Super Robot Wars BCE - Beyond Civilization's End
by Hero-of-Winds
Summary: The year is 0025 A.F. (Anno Finem). A massive war between the United Nations Earth Military and the Space Revolutionary Army brought civilization on the Earth to an end when the SRA dropped almost every last space colony to the Earth. Now mankind is attempting to eke out an existence in this new world, but war looms once more, this time from forces both human and inhuman...
1. Prologue

_I hate to disappoint people who were waiting for SOL, but don't worry, here's one I really, really promise to actually work on: a post-apocalyptic Super Robot Wars!  
_

* * *

**Prologue**

The year is 0025 A.F. (Anno Finem). A massive war between the United Nations Earth Military and the Space Revolutionary Army wrought horrific destruction on the Earth as the result of the Colony forces dropping almost every last space colony to the Earth. Unsurprisingly, this brought civilization at that time to its end, and wiped 99.9% of the ten billion humans from existence.

Yet somehow, the remaining 0.1% managed to pick up the pieces and begin again.

Many of the surviving humans, particularly the wealthy, had escaped into domed cities. Tokyo, New York City, and Paris are among the more well-known ones. Here, the old UNE government manages to maintain a tenuous and mostly ceremonial rule over the people. The only exceptions to the rule are the Northern Domeopoli, domed cities in the Arctic that are run by a conglomerate known as London IMA; X-Point, a stronghold for a group of people only known as the Innocent - who forbid only a select few to enter; and the mysterious Paradigm City, which no one has been able to enter or leave since the calamity.

However, even these would-be sanctuaries aren't completely safe. Many of these domed cities are under attack by all sorts of invaders - particularly the demonic Kouma, as well as machines animated by a mysterious force known only as "Dark Pneuma". To counter this, many of the major domed cities have secretly enlisted the aid of elite warriors known as Hanugami, who pilot mystical steam-driven battle armors known as Kohbu. When not defending their charges from the Kouma and Dark Pneuma forces, they serve as traveling musical troupes, moving from dome to dome to serve as entertainment for the masses.

Those who were lucky enough (or perhaps unlucky, depending on your perspective) to survive the impacts while outside the domed cities were left to eke out a meager existence in the ruins of the rest of the world. These individuals stay alive by forming bands of like-minded individuals with names such as "Vultures" or "Sandrats". These groups work together in order to gather the few freely available resources, often coming into conflict with one another. These conflicts usually involve engaging each other in giant robots that they've managed to scrape together from the pieces of the ruined world.

In addition, two small but wealthy nations splintered off of the UNE - the Gilgamesh Confederation and the Baalarant Union. For reasons that were lost in the great catastrophe, they began to wage war on each other. However, their conflict, which is fought using the somewhat crude but extremely deadly Armored Troopers, threatens to spread across the planet and even into the heavens above.

In space, the humans left in the colonies, particularly the survivors of the Space Revolutionary Army seem to be looking to return and begin their own lives anew - though those in power insist they do so by conquering their earthbound brethren. At the same time, the SRA is seeking to unlock the secrets of Laplace's Box, a container that supposedly holds something capable of changing the very balance of politics between Earth and space.

Those on Earth are also interested in beginning life anew - many citizens of the Northern Domeopoli are attempting to travel to the warmer parts of the world in journeys called Exodus - much to the displeasure of London IMA.

But the threats to peace aren't all of the human sort: ancient powers that had been driven into hiding by mankind's rise have begun to return - the tyrannical Mycenae, a race of beings that defended their lands with giants that shot fire from their chests; the barbaric Oni, a race of demons with horns on their heads; and the enigmatic Beastmen, a race of man/animal hybrids that patrol the wastes in their robotic Ganmen.

In the domed city of Tokyo, a shrine dedicated to a samurai known as Taira no Masakado stands silently, but has since suffered from neglect - local superstition links the city's welfare with how well the shrine is maintained. Events surrounding that shrine will be the most critical catalyst for new wars...

These are the **SUPER ROBOT WARS: BEYOND CIVILIZATION'S END! **

* * *

_For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, here's the series list: _

_After War Gundam X  
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (OVA)  
Armored Trooper VOTOMs (TV series + Last Red Shoulder)  
Combat Mecha Xabungle  
**Sakura Taisen (elements of I, III and V)**_

_Overman King Gainer  
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (1st season, altered plot)  
The Big O (Seasons 1 and 2)  
Shin Mazinger Z  
**(Shin) Great Mazinger**__ (semi-original idea)  
New Getter Robo  
_

_Banpresto Originals_


	2. Chapter 1

_And so we begin a new adventure. This one won't be nearly as over-the-top as SRW U, but hopefully I'll be able to do all of the featured series justice this time, since there are only ten._

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Saved by A Rusted Blade! Awaken, Masakado!**

Tokyo - one of many domed cities left in this shattered world. Here, there was relative peace and tranquility for those who had escaped the falling colonies. People could live, work, play, and go to school.

One of its residents was Tara Amakuni. She was a thin but athletically girl with long, straight purple hair, deep blue eyes and a small scar on her right cheek.

Tara was born to a modestly affluent family who had managed to escape the colony drops. Her father, Lucas Amakuni, was an American scientist who worked in robotics and energy studies; her mother, Nahoko Amakuni, was a priestess at the beloved Kanda Shrine. It happened that her mother was the only surviving child in her generation of Amakunis, who were supposedly descended from the famous sword-smith, Amakuni Yasutsuna. Due to the lack of a male heir, Tara's father, even though he was an auburn-haired, blue-eyed American from New York City, was designated as heir to the Amakuni name.

Today was the last day of school at South Kanzaki Academy, a private school for the city's wealthier residents. And like every year, the school's student body president Sumire Kanzaki, was doing almost everything she could to outshine the rest of her classmates - by bragging about her vacation plans. Being the heir to the Kanzaki family fortune, she could get away with almost anything in the middle of class.

Tara sighed and looked at the clock as she sat at her desk - it was almost over.

"Geez, it's just one fancy trip after another with her," one of Tara's classmates sighed. "Her parents must be crazy, though...to go anywhere outside the domes is pretty much suicide!"

"Her family invented the kohbu, remember?" another said; "Those things could take on anything...you saw how the Hanugami practically ate those Kouma alive!"

Suddenly, the bell rang, and everyone in the room got up and began to leave in an somewhat disorderly fashion - not nearly as chaotic as the American schools Tara had been educated in, but definitely more than the rigid conventions of normal Japanese society.

As it so happened, Tara was approached by Sumire as they left. The girl had neck-length reddish-brown hair, brown eyes, and a small black beauty mark under her left eye. Her otherwise typical school uniform had a purple skirt on it, a testament to her status, since every other girl in the school wore dark green skirts.

"Hello there, little miss Scar-Face!" Sumire said in a condescending tone. "I assume you're going to your crazy grandfather's workshop for vacation like you always do? Don't go burning yourself again!"

"Can it, Tsumire," Tara retorted. "It's none of your business."

"Have fun getting all sweaty and smelly!" she mocked; "I'm off to beautiful Hawaii!" With that, Sumire laughed and went off, leaving Tara alone amidst the crowd.

* * *

The kubizuka - it was an old shrine in the Chiyoda district, not far from where her mother worked. The shrine was dedicated to a samurai from Japan's medieval period - Taira-no-Masakado. Local superstition stated that his head was buried there - some of the old-timers who were alive during the war whisper that the troubles the city was suffering lately were due to the neglect the shrine was suffering. Of course, no one bothered to visit it at all, let alone take care of it.

Everyone, except for Tara.

"Man, I haven't been to the kubizuka lately," she said to herself as she made the walk to the shrine; "Finals have been absolute murder on me."

Lost in thought, she ended up taking a wrong turn down an alleyway, and soon bumped into a rather unexpected individual: a large young man with broad facial features, particularly his nose and eyebrows. While he was shaved bald in a manner not unlike Buddhist monks, his clothing consisted of a yellow top with a jacket with ripped sleeves, light colored pants, and dark boots...the clothes of a thug. Oddly, a long katana hung from his hip.

"Heh-heh-heh, well, what do we got here?" the man chuckled as he looked at Tara lecherously.

Tara stopped and froze with terror when she recognized the man - a notorious criminal who was wanted all over the city - Musashibo Benkei.

_Oh crap...this is not my day..._

"You go to South Kanzaki, huh? That must mean your family's loaded!" the thug chuckled as he grabbed her. "You're gonna make me a nice hunk of cash, little lady."

Tara looked down - her foot was in perfect position to nail her attacker in his most vulnerable point. With all her might, the girl kicked at his crotch and struck him hard, causing him to yowl in pain and drop her. Without a second of hesitation, she rushed back out of the alley and continued the way she was going - the nearest police station was just a block from the shrine.

"You little slut, get back here!" Benkei roared as he charged after her.

_If I can just get to the police station..._

But to Tara's dismay, the giant of a man managed to catch up to her right as she reached the shrine, where a simple stone monument with worn-off text was. Without thinking, she headed towards the monument, which she had forgotten (in her fearful haste) was enclosed by a stone wall on all sides. She stopped and turned to see her attacker in front of her only escape.

"Hello there, little meal ticket! Be a good girl and come quiet - I'd hate to have to RUIN that pretty face of yours anymore than it already is."

"G-go to hell!" Tara cried as she backed away, her hand unconsciously groping for the stone. But this time, the stone reacted to her touch, suddenly moving out of the way, causing her to tumble backward, butt first, down a long stone stairway.

It was only a few seconds later when she stopped at the bottom.

"Man...I'm sure glad I was on the cheerleading squad..." Tara mumbled as she rubbed her head, shoulders and neck and looked around in the darkness. But she soon saw the thug walking down the stairs.

"Guess we gotta do this the hard way, then..." he said, his voice echoing menacingly.

Tara hurried deeper into the darkness, groping around for some sort of hiding spot - but she soon came to a dead end. She turned around and saw Benkei standing there grinning, his face illuminated by the flame of a cigarette lighter. He held the lighter up to a nearby torch, which ignited and brightened the dark chamber further. It was a small chamber, no more than forty feet square, with another monument in the center.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Tara spotted the glint of a rusted sword stuck in the floor nearby. Desperate, she ran over to the blade, grabbed it, and assumed a classic kendo stance.

"Oh, so the little girl thinks she's hot stuff with a sword," Benkei laughed; "All right, if you wanna die like a samurai, I'll grant your wish! Besides, I can still get a nice wad of cash for returning your corpse, after all!"

Benkei then drew his own blade, which glinted brightly even in the torchlight.

"See this blade? It belonged to Minamoto-no-Raiko! There's no way it's gonna lose to that rusty, over-sized butter knife!"

The thug charged and raised the sword over his head.

_Well...here goes nothing, _Tara thought as she held up the rusted sword to block the attack. But when Benkei's sword struck the rusty one, it did not break - in fact, it deflected Benkei's attack hard enough to send him reeling.

Tara looked up at the sword, and her jaw dropped open in amazement - the sword was no longer the least bit rusty - in fact, it gleamed with a brightness that only a blade that had been completed moments ago could exhibit.

_The sword...it...transformed?_

When she looked back at Benkei, his face was deathly pale, his expression one of absolute terror. Tara smirked a bit and brandished the blade that had saved her life.

"I guess my kick took out more of your manhood than I thought!" she mocked. But after a moment, she noticed that the thug wasn't looking at her, but at something above her. She turned around and looked up. Behind her was a tall, ghostly masked man with shoulder-length pale blue hair, green and yellow robes, a red sash and an unsettling white mask with red markings on it.

"UWAAAA! WE'VE DISTURBED THE SACRED KUBIZUKA!" Benkei cried out. The thug turned right around and dashed out of the tunnel as fast as his legs could carry him.

And if the dreaded Musashibo Benkei was frightened, then Tara was even more so. She dropped the sword and stared up, her face pale with terror - it felt like her day had just gone to the pits of hell. But to her surprise, the ghostly figure made no move against her.

"Peace, child," the spirit said in a stern but gentle voice. "I am not here to harm you."

"W-w-who are you?" Tara stammered, still frightened of the ghostly figure before her.

"I am Taira-no-Masakado, the guardian god of this city," the spirit replied.

"Oh...um...thank you for saving me," Tara replied, bowing respectfully, though still wary of her ghostly benefactor. "I-I owe you my life."

"It was the least I could do," Masakado replied pleasantly. "You are the only individual to regularly visit this shrine since the day the sky fell."

_The day the sky fell? _Tara thought;_ He must mean the colony drops._

"The sword you have in your hand once belonged to me," he explained; "However, I cannot use it in my current form, so I entrust it to you...you will surely need it in the trials ahead."

"Huh?" the girl asked; "Trials? What do you mean, trials?"

As if in answer, the ground began to shake, dropping bits of debris from the ceiling.

"Uwa! What now?!" Tara exclaimed, nearly losing her balance.

"To the surface!" Masakado cried; "This place will collapse soon!" With a nod, Tara and her incorporeal savior hurried toward the other end of the tunnel, just as the tomb began to collapse behind them.

* * *

"UUUUUSA-SA-SA-SA-SA-SAAAA!"

The cause of the inner shrine's collapse and the laugh were one and the same - hopping down the street was a massive, steam-powered robot resembling a rabbit wearing a red mantle, not unlike the White Rabbit from a certain fairy tale. However, its ears were keen-edged and arranged in a manner not unlike a pair of gigantic scissors while two of its four arms were four-turreted gatling cannons. To top off the menacing picture, its toes and rear end were all sharp blades as well.

Following close behind were a quintet of robots of unusual make - like the machine they were chasing, they were powered by steam, but their bodies were more like walking metal potatoes with three-fingered arms and steam chimneys coming out of their shoulders. Two vertically arranged eyes that could move all the way to the left or right independently. Each of them was armed with a different weapon, and each of them was differently colored as well as unique decorations.

These were all Kohbu, the machines used by the Hanugami in their war against the Kouma and Dark Pneuma.

The lead Kohbu was white and had two katanas on its hips, while a lightning-bolt-shaped horn stuck out from its forehead.

Near it was a Kohbu that was colored the pink of cherry blossoms, while it had a long metal skirt colored magenta. It wielded a single blade, longer than the ones used by the white Kohbu.

On the other side of it was a red Kohbu with a golden crucifix symbol emblazoned on its front. It carried a large white crucifix as well, though it secretly doubled as a powerful machine gun.

Behind the red Kohbu was a purple machine with one red eye and one blue eye. It carried a long naginata, or bladed polearm, in one hand.

Behind the pink Kohbu was a fiery orange machine adorned with red flames, lightning bolts and stars, while its arms were each decorated with a large brightly polished horseshoe. It wielded an overlarge revolver with a long, katana-like blade on it, not unlike a bayonet.

The rabbit machine landed after a particularly long jump and skidded to a stop near the shrine, followed closely by the pursuing Kohbus, which moved with a surprisingly human-like gait.

"Ciseaux!" the voice of the white machine's pilot, a young male Japanese, called out. "The chase is over, you foul lapine menace!"

"Are those...the Hanugami?!" Tara exclaimed. None of them seemed to notice her yet. Deciding to leave this to the experts, she started off towards the police station. Unfortunately, the pilot of the rabbit machine caught notice of her.

"Ah, c'est bonne chance!" the pilot of the rabbit machine said with an impish chuckle. With startling speed, it suddenly bounded straight at Tara, grabbed her with its claws, then extending its ears, aligning them with Tara's throat.

"No sudden moves, my leetle friends, or else zis young woman will be subject to...how you say...zeh double guillotine of my Prelude?"

"Ggh..." the white Kohbu's pilot grunted, unsure of what to do.

"That's a dern low trick, ya flea-bitten varmint!" the pilot of the orange Kohbu said angrily, speaking with a strong Texan accent. "When I get my hands on ya, I'm gonna skin ya alive and mount yer head over mah fireplace!" The other Kohbu pilots seemed to be equally frustrated.

To add to the misery, ten other steam-powered machines suddenly appeared, seemingly out of thin air - white Kohbu-like machines that resembled knights with red-eyed hawk heads sticking out from their visors.

However, no one except Tara seemed to notice the spirit of Masakado floating nearby. Thankfully, he seemed to know exactly what to do. He quickly sunk into the pavement, then rose up again - this time in a very different form: a floating boulder about three feet in diameter with thin, wiry roots growing out of the bottom, and two piercing blood-red eyes - in all, he seemed like a disembodied head. His entire form was cloaked in a flaming aura, and he seemed to be surrounded by a number of ever-burning butterflies.

With a low moan, the new body of Masakado suddenly caused the butterflies to start flying unerringly toward the Prelude, transforming into flaming arrows as they rushed in. With the force of armor-piercing rounds, they blasted through the rabbit machine's thick plating, dealing substantial damage to it.

The machine lost its grip on Tara, dropping her to the ground. She landed on her feet and hurried back to Masakado as the flaming butterflies regenerated.

"Zis is tres mal!" Ciseaux exclaimed. "Blanches! One of you get zat girl and her floating rock!"

"Everyone! Now's our chance!" the pilot of the white Kohbu called out. "Imperial Flower Assault Force...charge!"

With that, all of the Kohbus except the red one readied their weapons and charged in. The white one and pink one quickly went to work, hacking away at the enemies, while the purple one became a whirlwind of destruction, slicing through three of the Blanches with a few quick swings. The red one readied its cross-shaped machine gun and began firing madly - by some sort of miracle, none of the bullets missed their mark or struck her companions...it even managed to nail the one heading straight for Tara and Masakado. Meanwhile, the orange Kohbu started firing flaming shots from its revolver-sword.

At one point, the white and pink machines clashed with the Prelude, their swords blocking the rabbit machine's scissors.

"Ogami! Now! While we've got him pinned down!" the pilot of the pink Kohbu cried.

"Take this! MUSOU TENI!" the pilot of the white Kohbu cried.

The shining mech leaped high, and brought down both of his blades on the enemy, which then inexplicably created a number of lightning bolts that struck the Prelude. The rabbit machine belched some steam and smoke as it came to an abrupt stop, as the hatch opened.

Much to Tara's shock, the pilot of the rabbit machine wasn't quite human - it was a strange humanoid rabbit with rose-tinted glasses, a top hat, purple coat and pants, a yellow flannel undershirt, and a magenta handkerchief tucked into his collar. His short nose was accented with a thin but well-groomed brown mustache and his two buck teeth were brightly polished.

"Don't act all smug! You have not seen the last of Ciseaux of the Kaijin! UUUUUSA-SA-SA-SA-SA-SA-SA!"

The Prelude somehow started up again and disappeared in a flash of light as the rabbit-man let out that last laugh. Masakado also used this chance to return to spirit form.

With that, the battle was over. All of the Kohbus except for the purple one opened up, revealing the pilots within.

"Wow! You're...all my age!"

All of the pilots wore similar outfits - as if they were in a sort of marching band, minus the silly hats. While their designs varied slightly, the uniforms were all color-coded to match their pilot's mech.

"We get that a lot," said the pilot of the orange Kohbu, a red-haired girl with cerulean eyes, orange outfit and a Texas accent. She then turned toward the purple Kohbu. "Hey, Kanzaki! Get yer tail out here and say hello to the miss who gave Ciseaux the ol' butterfly acupuncture treatment!"

There was a brief pause before the purple Kohbu opened up. There, dressed in a purple band outfit, was Sumire Kanzaki.

"Sumire...is that you?!" Tara exclaimed, not sure of whether to be shocked that the girl who kept putting her down in school had helped save her life, or whether to laugh at seeing her wearing such a ridiculous outfit.

"You two know each other?" asked the pilot of the red Kohbu, a girl with reddish-brown eyes and similarly-colored hair that reached down to her waist.

"...Weeeeee...go to school together," Sumire said, her voice filled with grave embarrassment.

"So, aren't you going to introduce me, Miss I'm-The-Most-Fashionable-Girl-In-School-If-Not-Ever?" Tara said smugly, having decided on the latter. Sumire sighed.

"Everyone, meet Tara Amakuni, my classmate from school."

"I am Ichiro Ogami, squad commander of Tokyo's Imperial Flower Assault Division," said the white Kohbu's pilot, the lone boy of the group. He was a Japanese teenager with black hair cut in a military style.

"Bonjour! I'm Erica Fontaine, of the Paris Flower Assault Force!" said the red Kohbu's pilot, her tone cheerful and energetic. "Your floaty rock friend was tres, tres magnifique!"

"Gemini Sunrise's the name!" the pilot of the orange Kohbu. "Nice to meet ya, pardner. I'm from the New York Combat Revue's Hoshigumi Division, but I love it here in Tokyo!"

"Sakura Shinguuji," the pilot of the pink Kohbu said politely; "It's nice to meet you. Sumire and I are also from the Flower Assault Division." She was a Japanese girl with long dark hair tied back with a ribbon. Tara glanced down at the sword hanging at Sakura's hip, and suddenly seemed to recognize it.

"You mind if I take a look at that sword?" she asked curiously, pointing to the weapon.

"Huh? Um...sorry, but I can't," the girl answered, turning aside as if to hide the sword. "It's a family heirloom, so..."

"I just want to see the blade itself," Tara said, rolling her eyes. "It's not like I'm asking you to let me have it - I've already got one of my own right here...here, have a look!" With that, she held up Masakado's sword, which glinted in the afternoon sun.

"Wow! That's about the purdiest sword I ever saw!" Gemini said, enraptured by the blade's craftsmanship. Even Sumire silently admitted that she was impressed.

"Okay, your turn, Sakura," Tara said after lowering the sword. Though flustered, the pink Kohbu's pilot drew her family's sword and allowed Tara to examine it. After a few nods, she stepped back.

"Yep! That's a Hideo Amakuni original - no mistaking it," Tara said confidently. "I'd know my grandpa's work anywhere!"

"Wait...so you're HIS granddaughter?" Sakura exclaimed, almost starstruck. "You're the heir to the bloodline of Amakuni Yasutsuna, the man who forged the first tachi in the Heian period?!"

"At least that's what my grandpa claims," Tara replied, a little embarrassed at the way Sakura was looking at her. "My family's been full of sword-smiths for centuries now. Of course, I've got a lot of improving to do if I'm gonna live up to the family name." As she said that last sentence, she turned her cheek, inadvertently showing off the scar on her face.

"Listen, we have to get back, Sakura," Ichiro said, tugging on Sakura's sleeve. "Commander Yoneda will be expecting our report."

"Oh, right. Take care of yourself, Tara!" Sakura said as she headed back toward her Kohbu. Ichiro gave a nod of acknowledgment and silently returned to his Kohbu.

"Best o' luck to ya, Tara," Gemini said pleasantly, giving a snappy, two-fingered salute; "And take care of that sword, ya hear?" With that, she also departed. Sumire merely leered at her before leaving.

"Perhaps if God wills it, we'll see each other again;" Erica said before turning around to depart; "Until then...au revoir, madamoiselle Amakuni!"

She stopped and looked straight at Masakado, as if she could see him.

"Au revoir to you too, monsieur samurai ghoooost!" With that, she started back towards her machine, cheerfully humming a rather catchy tune. With that, the five Kohbus started off in the direction they came, leaving Tara and Masakado alone once more.

"They are a...rather interesting lot," Masakado said. "But that girl Erica - it seems that she could see my ghostly form when the others could not. It seems some spiritual power lies within her."

"Look, I just want to go home," Tara groaned. "How about you go back to your tomb and sleep for another eternity?"

"I cannot," Masakado answered; "For I am bound to the one who possesses my medium; and now that my tomb has been sealed by the earth, you cannot return it there. But again, you will need it for the trials ahead."

"Sure, whatever," the girl sighed. "Come on then, mister samurai ghost." As she started walking, several police hovercars and rescue trucks started racing down the street in the direction they were going. Almost immediately, Tara had a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, and hurried her pace.

* * *

The village was in a panic - a bandit had come. Normally, a single bandit wouldn't be much of an issue, but this one was in a mobile suit - a Jenice. Against that, even the heaviest of human-scale artillery was no match.

However, that didn't daunt the teenager in the hooded brown cloak one bit. In fact, he knew exactly how to deal with them - after all, their pilots were human.

As the Jenice plodded towards the center of the village, he suddenly darted out of hiding and into the desert sun, carrying a bottle of some unknown liquid in his right hand. He tossed aside his cloak. The young man had mussy black hair, a lightweight tan and red jacket, blue jeans and dark shoes. As he got closer to the colossus, he put on a pair of dark sunglasses, then tossed the liquid straight at the mobile suit's head.

The bottle broke, and the liquid that had been sealed inside immediately ignited, burning brightly enough to force the pilot inside to cover his eyes.

"Damn it! The main camera!" cried the bandit, a thin but muscular man with a long nose and a spiked helmet. "Who did that?!"

The flash would only work for a few seconds, but that was all the young man needed. Once he was close enough, he pulled out a strange gun and fired it straight at the Jenice's nose - the projectile was a magnetic suction cup attached to a cable; The magnet's and suction cup's combined strength was enough to hold the teenager's weight, causing the cable to pull up to the cockpit, located in the mobile suit's chest.

The teenager quickly found the suit's outer escape hatch, unlocked it and opened the suit with one hand, and pulling out an actual gun from his pocket.

"I did," the teen said with a chuckle, his green eyes glimmering with vigor. "This is a hold-up."

"Bastard!" the bandit said angrily as he prepared to strike the boy; "How did you..."

"I wouldn't make any sudden moves if I were you," the teen said, leering a bit, even as he continued to smile; "My gun's gotta be way faster than your mobile suit!"

"Heh, I kinda like you, kid," the bandit replied awkwardly. "Hows about you and me team up?"

"Are you that stupid? I just said this is a hold-up, remember?" the young man replied. Without another word, he entered the cockpit, pulled the bandit from his seat and threw him to the ground below, where an angry and armed mob of villagers had formed.

"No...wait!" the bandit cried as the mob closed in around him; "HELP! HELP MEEEEEEE!"

The young man watched as the mob gave the hapless bandit the beating of a lifetime before some of them dragged him off toward the village jail.

"That kid's something," one of the villagers commented just loud enough for the boy to hear. He grinned widely and gave a V-for-victory sign, proud that he had not only pulled off a successful job, but gotten a little gratitude and recognition from people other than his clients.

"Excuse me? Are you Garrod Ran?" someone called from below. The young man looked down from his high perch and saw a middle-aged gentleman with a black suit, coat and bowler hat standing there. He looked to be someone from the domes.

"Yep, that's me!" the heroic boy said.

"Ah, good!" the man in black replied. "My name is Reich Anto; I've been looking for you."

"About a job, maybe?" Garrod asked, squatting down.

"Indeed!" Reich replied, happy to know the boy was interested.

"Great, but can it wait for a bit?" Garrod then asked, looking back up at his well-earned trophy. "I have to cash this thing in first!"

* * *

_I'm sure you all can guess what's coming next. Next time, we find out what happened at Tara's place, meet the original mech for the fic, and then officially get started on the After War Gundam X plot!_


	3. Chapter 2

_In this episode...erm, I mean, chapter...we meet the original mech of the series and continue with Gundam X's plot!_

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Masakados Launches! Freeden, the Landship of the Vultures **

Tara skidded to a stop and looked on with horror at the scene before her - the window of her family's apartment and the surrounding ones all had smoke billowing out of them, as firefighters, police and other first-responders were working on dealing with a blaze. Nearby, Tara saw a policeman questioning a woman in her mid-forties with straight black hair, who had suffered some burns and had just been given initial treatment. Tara recognized her as one of her neighbors, and one of his father's colleagues at work - Akane Sekigawa.

"A-and the next thing I knew...I smelled smoke," the woman said, trying her best to explain; "When I went to check on 16-B...I saw these...things...great flaming things...they was so much fire, I can't describe them to you beyond that. They grabbed Nahoko and then just burst out the window! But Lucas...he...he..."

"I see. Thank you for your time, Doctor," the policeman said.

"Akane!" Tara exclaimed, running over to the burned scientist. "What happened to you? What happened to Mom and Dad?"

"Oh, Tara...it's good to see you're safe," Akane said weakly; I'm sure your father and mother would be too."

The purple-haired girl gasped and took a few steps back as what that meant sunk in.

"No...don't tell me they're..."

"Are you the next of kin of Lucas and Nahoko Amakuni?" the policeman asked, eyeing the sword warily. "I'm sorry to tell you this...but your father was killed by what your neighbor described as 'great flaming things'. As for your mother, we found no sign of her at all. It's possible that they targeted her, but we're still looking into it..."

Tara wanted to cry out - to scream - but she had gone through so much already to do that...all she could do was drop Masakado's katana, throw herself onto Akane's chest and sob into it. Masakado wanted to comfort the girl somehow, but he couldn't do it without manifesting and causing a panic. But unexpectedly, the burnt woman spoke to Tara quietly.

"That sword...where did you get it?" she asked.

"I-I found it underneath the kubizuka," Tara replied, sniffling a bit.

"I see...then take...this."

Akane managed to raise her arm and press something into the girl's hand. Tara stood up and looked into it - while it was scorched, Tara immediately recognized it as her father's ID card from work - he worked for BizenTech Laboratories, a military contractor for the UNE.

"Your father...wanted me...to give this to you...in case the worst happened," she whispered, her voice growing noticeably strained.

"What...should I do with this?" Tara asked, trying her hardest to hear.

"Find...the janitor...and show him that sword and ID card. He'll know what...to...do..."

With that, Akane closed her eyes, her head flopping to the side. Tara gasped, fearing the worst. But thankfully, a duo of paramedics came over and gently lifted the stretcher she laid on and put in the ambulance.

"It's all right, miss," said a third paramedic. "She's just unconscious. Talking must have taken a lot out of her. I suggest you find a place to stay for now. Once the fire is put out, you can return to pick up any belongings you can salvage." With that, the paramedics got back into the ambulance and took off towards the nearest hospital.

Tara looked back at the card, then to Masakado, who simply nodded.

* * *

Garrod's mission was definitely different from his usual ones - instead of capturing a machine, he had to find and rescue a person named Tiffa Adil from a group of scavengers called "The Vultures". This group, working on a large white landship called the _Freeden, _had kidnapped this girl for reasons unknown, and Reich, who represented a corporation called Alternative Company, wanted her back.

He sneaked throughsome underbrush near an oasis, where the crew of the ship was pumping water for use on the ship. The thief tiptoed quietly past the crew toward a pipe sticking out of the ship, the noise of the pump blotting out any rustling he made. With barely a moment of hesitation, he shimmied up the pole and entered an emergency exit door.

_There aren't any alarms at all on this thing - this is gonna be easier than I thought_, Garrod said to himself.

The thief moved carefully and quickly through the halls of the ship. Suddenly, a door swung open, causing Garrod to instinctively duck down and hide behind it. He looked up and saw a blonde woman in her twenties wrapped in a towel - the young man's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to her substantial butt, blushing deeply as he gazed upon them.

"What's taking so long? I'm taking a shower here, so hurry up!" the woman complained before re-entering the room she came from, slamming the door behind her.

"He-he...this job just gets better and better," Garrod whispered to himself. "Ah, it must be this way!" The green-eyed teen continued down the hallway, stopping at a room labeled "Captain's Quarters". Extracting a piece of stiff bent wire, he stuck it in the lock on the door, wiggling it until it fit all the way in. With all due care, he quickly opened the door, slipped into the darkened room and shut it behind him.

He looked around - in the darkness, he could make out a desk, some old cardboard boxes and other knickknacks. But his keen vision soon spotted something worth poking around in - a thick safe.

_Maybe I'll help myself to whatever cash these Vulture guys have...call it a bonus, _he thought as he approached the safe, extracting another device from his coat pockets - a weird device that, upon touching the safe, started rapidly displaying numbers until it stopped on a certain combination...it was an automatic safe cracker of sorts.

"Bingo!" Garrod cheered quietly when he heard the safe click, a clear indication that it was unlocked. He eagerly opened the safe...

To find absolutely no money inside. Indeed, there was nothing whatsoever in it, save for a weird gun-shaped device that looked rather worn. It had several buttons on it, one of which was large and red.

"A Mobile Suit control device?" he said, scratching his head at why something like this was kept in a safe. "Well, it's not totally worthless." He pocketed the device and returned to the door, continuing down the hall.

Garrod didn't have to go far before his ears picked up a muffled sound - the sound of a girl humming a tune. Following the sound to another nearby hallway, he stopped at a particular door. Raising his head up, he peeked inside.

Indeed, there was a girl inside - a lovely girl roughly his age with very dark brown, almost black hair in a hime cut, though the back of it was very long - extending all the way down to her waist. She wore a simple lavender and white dress and white shoes. He could barely make out her eyes being a dark violet color.

Garrod remembered a picture his client had shown him of Tiffa - and this girl was a perfect match to the photograph. It had to be her...and yet seeing her in person was entirely different than just seeing a picture. As he entered the room, Garrod felt butterflies in his stomach as his tongue seemed to tie itself in knots - it was like he was lovestruck by the girl, but not in the same way as the woman in the towel.

"I...uh..."

Tiffa stopped singing, surprised to see this newcomer. As the young man stumbled to find the words to explain himself, she shyly watched him, though slightly amused by his awkwardness.

"Oh yeah! I came to rescue you!" Garrod said once his mind was finally able to form a coherent sentence again. But instead of responding, Tiffa continued to look at him. The lad suddenly got nervous - he had no way of knowing if the girl was judging him with that stare.

"It's the truth! I really did come to rescue you!" he said resolutely. Little did he realize that Tiffa completely trusted him the moment she first laid eyes on him.

"I've...been waiting for you," the girl finally said, smiling a little.

"Great...a guy named Reich Anto sent me," Garrod said, happy to see that the girl believed the truth in his words. "C'mon, I'll take you back to him."

But the very mention of that name suddenly causes Tiffa's expression to instantly change to one of fear and uneasiness, as if she was seeing things in her own mind - visions of things that man's employers had done to her. She began shaking her head.

"Huh? You don't want to go back?" Garrod asked, surprised by, yet seeming to understand the reason behind Tiffa's drastic change in mood.

"N...no..." she said meekly.

"Is Reich a bad guy or something?" the young man then asked. Tiffa, after a moment of hesitation, nodded.

"Hmph. Well, that changes things a bit," Garrod said with a sigh before deciding on his new course of action. "But there's no way I'm just leaving you here. I'm sure these scrappers aren't any better. C'mon!"

* * *

Tara's mind tried to stay focused on the task at hand - getting to her father's workplace before it locked up for the day. She rushed up the street, dodging past several people, many of which were looking rather wary of the girl carrying a sword around. Several policemen actually stopped her for questioning, though she simply explained that she was delivering it to someone who had left it behind.

Soon, she spotted it - a large glass building occupying an entire city block, with the company's logo in large print over the doors. Said logo was the name with the "B" laying on its side, which was shaped like the horizon, while the two curved parts resembling the sun and a full moon side-by-side. Just inside was an elderly, rather haggard looking old Japanese man with a long gray mustache in janitorial gear. To Tara's distress, it looked like he was starting to lock up.

"Wait! I need to talk to you!" she cried, running as fast as her legs could carry her, trying to keep Masakado's sword from hurting anyone accidentally. She reached the man just as he was about to turn the key to lock the building.

"Oh, you're Dr. Amakuni's girl!" the janitor exclaimed, happy to see a familiar face. "You looking to talk with me?" Tara kept panting, trying to catch her breath after her desperate sprint.

"That's a fancy-looking sword you got there," the old man said. "Your grandpa make it?"

"No...I found it in the kubizuka," Tara replied after finally catching her breath and extracting her father's ID card from her pocket. "Dr. Sekigawa gave me this and said you would know what to do."

The janitor took a look at the card, and his happy expression turned to a more solemn one.

"I see...so it's time, then," he said as he unlocked the glass door and allowed Tara to enter. "Come along then, young lady." The girl nodded and began to follow the janitor. They spent several minutes seemingly wandering through hallways, passing by numerous darkened offices. As they walked, the old man struck up a conversation.

"Your father never told you what he did at work, did he?" he asked.

"He said he did stuff with robotics and energy research, but he never went into any details," Tara replied with a sigh. "I guess I'll never know, now that's he's gone."

"On the contrary!" the janitor said. "You're going to get an inside look at just what your old man did!"

After several more minutes of seemingly aimless wandering, Tara began to grow concerned that the janitor might have forgotten where they were going.

"You...DO know where we're going, right?"

"Of course I do!" the old man snapped at her. "I know every last nook and cranny of this building...after all, I'm the one who has to clean it all! Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh!"

The old man's laugh was interrupted by some rather loud coughing on his part. As it happened, he stopped right at a seemingly innocuous elevator. When they entered, Tara glanced at the buttons. What immediately struck her was the presence of no less than six-five buttons - but all them went to basement levels.

"Why are there sixty basement levels?" the girl asked. "Do we really have to go all the way down to the 60th basement?"

"You didn't hear this from me, but there's really only ten basement levels," he whispered. "It's a security measure developed to frustrate intruders. Besides, we're only heading for B4, so you gotta press THIS one!" The old man pressed that button, and the elevator began its descent, stopping after a few seconds.

When the door opened, it revealed a room that looked much like a train station - only this one had a rather sleek and fancy-looking bullet train sitting on the tracks. While it seemed to lack wheels of any kind, Tara knew better - it was a mag-lev train, which used magnetism to levitate the train and pull it along with minimal friction.

"Pick a seat, any seat!" the janitor said. Tara bowed graciously and picked a seat next to a window. To her (and Masakado's) shock, no sooner did she get comfortable in the seat than did a series of harnesses and safety restraints automatically clip on, securing her tightly.

_What's the big idea? This is a transport, not a roller coaster...right?_

"Hang on tight, 'cause here you go!" the old man whooped. The train lurched forward and rocketed down the track at speeds of several hundred miles per hour, while dipping and climbing rapidly...

* * *

On the _Freeden_'s bridge, several people were all standing or sitting around, preparing the landship for launch. Among them was the blonde woman Garrod had narrowly avoided, though she now was dressed in proper work clothes.

Sitting in the captain's chair was a ruggedly handsome man in his forties with mussed up brown hair, black sunglasses and a thick scar over his left eye. He wore a blue button-down coat, a testament to his status as captain.

His name was Jamil Neate, and he was a veteran of the war that had more or less destroyed the Earth. The sunglasses he wore were partly to hide the guilt in his eyes, so as not to demoralize the crew.

"Main engine activated!" said his navigator, a young man with brown hair. "_Freeden_...all set to launch!"

"Wait a minute...sir, Hatch 4 is still open!" a woman with brown hair and pale violet eyes said. Jamil pressed a button on his captain's chair, allowing him to get a view of what was going on.

He saw a blue dune buggy drive out of the open hatch, and he got a good look at just who was inside: Garrod and Tiffa.

_Damn it all...Tiffa, _he said to himself;_ I won't let him take you back to that hell..._

"Incoming heat source!" the woman called out. A missile struck nearby, launched by mobile suits.

"Those are Alternative Company's mobile suits!" the blonde woman said; "We can't just follow the buggy, or else we'll lead them right to Tiffa!"

The _Freeden_'s captain quickly considered this as he came up with a course of action.

_It's risky...but I have no choice, _Jamil thought.

"Get us moving!" the captain commanded. "Tell those two guys to prepare the Leopard and Airmaster for battle...Mori, make sure we stay in range of that buggy's signal! We won't pursue them directly until we've dealt with these guys..."

* * *

Garrod couldn't believe it - he and Tiffa had actually escaped! He grinned widely and turned to the girl even as he kept one eye on the road.

"Tiffa, we did it! You're free now!" he said happily before focusing back on the road. "No more being cooped up anywhere against your will! So come on, where do you want to go? I'll take you anywhere you want me to!"

The girl seemed unsure at first, but then got a flash in her mind.

"Go that way," she said, pointing down a dirt road that led into the woods that they were approaching.

"Huh?" Garrod said, scratching his head in confusion. "O-okay, if you say so. What's down that way, anyway?" Tiffa stared straight at him, her eyes seeming to stare right into his very soul.

"...An important power."

* * *

The train finally began to slow down, much to Tara's relief. She had been subjected to incredible and drastic changes in speed and direction on her journey, like a roller coaster from hell. But finally, she came to a stop, the straps and harnesses undid themselves, allowing her to stand. Unsteadily, she managed to get to her feet and wobble her way to the platform, where a young man a little older than Tara was waiting for her. He had mussed up, somewhat spiky black hair with a single maroon streak along it, and had a pair of glasses perched on his nose. One of his eyes was light blue, the other green.

"Ah, welcome," the young man said pleasantly; "You seem to be one piece - that's quite encouraging. Let me help you with your little dizziness problem."

He pulled a small spray bottle containing a purple liquid out of his coat pocket and sprayed it in Tara's face a few times. Within seconds, the girl was able to walk normally again.

"What was that all about?!" Tara ranted; "I felt my eyeballs sinking into my sockets, and I felt my organs touch my spine! And what was that stuff you just sprayed at me?"

"The ride here was a test to determine your G-force tolerance...you managed to withstand a maximum of 25 G's on both horizontal and vertical axes without even blacking out. Incredibly impressive for your age and gender. As for the spray, it's a quick remedy for motion sickness we developed here at BizenTech. We use it for all of our crew, even the more experienced ones. By the way, my name is Jaan Wilner. I'm half-Japanese, like you. The acting head of this project is out sick, so I'll be taking his place."

"Nice to meet you, Jaan...I guess," Tara replied. _What would Dad want to put me through that for? _Tara then wondered as she approached a set of huge metal blast doors, with a small security-lock machine; _Is he going to make me test something?_

"Now, swipe your father's card on this console and you'll see why you've been brought here," Jaan said.

Tara nodded, approached the console, and swiped her father's ID card through the slot. The device made a beep, which was then followed by the sound of clanking metal as the two blast doors moved aside.

Inside was some sort of hangar - one that was abuzz with activity in spite of the late hour. But what immediately drew Tara's attention was the colossus that stood in the center of the room: a giant robot.

It was a gray, black and blue humanoid machine with a vague samurai lookl to it. Its appearance was surprisingly androgynous - somewhat unexpected for a samurai, which Tara would assume looked manly. Its armor definitely resembled that of a samurai in full armor, though it was much more streamlined, almost as if someone was trying to make it aerodynamic. Attached to its hips were two swords - a tachi about the length of its legs on its right hip and a shorter kodachi, about the length of its thigh, hanging from its left. Hanging on its back was a much larger sword, probably a nodachi, though it looked noticeably heavier. On each of its arms were a pair of turrets that looked like they launched something of semi-liquid nature. The whole thing was topped off by a helmet with simple lightning bolt shaped horns.

"Whoa! Is that a...mobile suit?" Tara exclaimed.

"It's more than any mobile suit," the young man proclaimed, gesturing dramatically toward it; "It is the prototype of the very first anti-demon mobile weapon, the TCH-01X Masakados!"

"Anti-demon?" Tara exclaimed, now extremely skeptical of what was going on.

Just then, she was approached by a wizened old Japanese man in a white robe wearing a black, flower-pot-shaped hat made of reeds...a Shinto priest.

"The Kouma and the Dark Pneuma are not the only supernatural threats that have risen since the end of the war," the man explained; "Most of them have not entered the domes yet, but it is only a matter of time before they do. The UNE realized this, and commissioned BizenTech to create a weapon capable of defeating such foes, and called upon us intermediaries to the divine for additional guidance."

"Oh, Master Ogura!" Tara exclaimed, recognizing the man as Renzo Ogura, her mother's superior and head priest of the Kanda shrine. "You're here too! But...why are you all telling me all this?"

"Because the UNE cannot be trusted to use it as intended anymore!" Renzo answered indignantly; "Their ruling officials are too busy focusing on restoring its old power and gathering the people of the Earth under their banner."

"Their goals are similar to the ones I had in life," Masakado commented, though only Tara could hear him.

"What's so bad about that?" Tara asked, a little confused. "If humanity is united, we can face the demons together!"

"Indeed - their ultimate goal is noble," the priest replied passionately. "But they are using force to coerce the people into joining them, which that makes them little better than conquerors!"

"And we all agreed that the Masakados was to serve as a weapon to DEFEND mankind, not to subjugate it," Jaan added. "Therefore, Lucas Amakuni decided to entrust it to you, his daughter."

"Whoa, hold on!" Tara said, shaking her hands as if in rejection to this whole thing. "You expect me to pilot that thing? Sure, I'm pretty good at video games, but that sure as hell doesn't qualify me to pilot anything, let alone something like this!"

"Then tell me," the priest said, pointing to the sword at the girl's waist - "Why was the katana of Taira-no-Masakado entrusted to you?"

"What..h-how did you know that?!" Tara exclaimed, shocked that the priest knew that much.

"The old jishu are as wise and keen-eyed as ever," Masakado chuckled, even though he knew the priest couldn't really see or hear him. "There is little that an experienced one cannot grasp."

"It does not matter!" Renzo shouted. "You have been entrusted with a mission to protect this land by the guardian of Tokyo himself! Protecting this land also means protecting the world!"

"Okay, okay, I get your point," Tara said, rather annoyed by the priest's angry ranting; "So you want me to take this thing and go kick some demon tail with it while keeping out of the UNE's hands?"

"You must prevent it from falling into the hands of ANY government or organization that would abuse its power," Jaan answered grimly; "That, and you must use it to rescue your mother."

Tara nodded. "Yeah, I gotta...wait - you really think she's alive?"

"I am certain of it," the old priest replied. "Our enemy needs her alive for some reason, but we have not yet discerned why. But we cannot waste any more time in idle conversation - every second, the ones who took her are moving further and further out of our reach!"

"Go to the locker rooms just above here and put on the piloting suit we left for you in there," Jaan explained. "Once you are ready, the man outside will lead you to where you can board the Masakados."

* * *

The buggy came to a stop at what appeared to be a large hangar, kept in surprisingly good condition. Oddly, it was completely unguarded.

"Looks like a mobile suit factory," Garrod said as he and Tiffa got out. The girl, her gaze intently focused on what was inside, walked quickly. The young man followed, causing them to stop at a set of thick blast doors.

"Hey, what're these doors here for?" he asked.

Tiffa closed her eyes as if in prayer. To Garrod's amazement, the lock responded, opening up. The girl then walked inside. After taking about twenty steps, she stopped and raised her arm, pointing at a large object looming before them.

Inside was a white mobile suit with blue chest armor and red accents; its head had two sets of yellow-gold horns on its forehead, and a strange set of fins on its back. The machine was lying on some sort of flatbed trailer.

"That's...a Gundam!" he gasped. He had heard stories about them, but never thought he'd see one in person.

Tiffa, apparently exhausted from the strain of it all, suddenly fainted and collapsed. Garrod rushed over to her, and shook her, trying to wake her up.

"Tiffa? Tiffa?!"

Suddenly, several bloodcurdling screeches filled the air. Garrod looked back up to see six rather wicked looking creatures - vaguely humanoid creatures between twelve and fifteen feet tall with long heads ending in mouths filled with sharp teeth, bat-like wings, reptilian tails, human-like hands with sharp yellow claws and four eyes like pools of blood. They were all differently colored, but they were all of sickly hues.

"Oh crud...of all the times to run into Kouma!" he said in frustration before turning to the Gundam. "I really hope this thing still works..."

With adrenaline pumping through him, Garrod picked up Tiffa and bounded up to the flatbed, then into the Gundam, all in time to dodge the charging Kouma. He landed in the seat with the unconscious girl in his lap. His hand reflexively reached for where the control unit would be - only to find none there.

"Oh crud...no control unit?!" he exclaimed in horror. Suddenly, he felt something land violently on top of the mobile suit, shaking the cockpit enough to jolt him - and to cause the control unit he had picked up inside the _Freeden _to fall out of his pocket.

As the Kouma continued to hammer away at the cockpit hatch, Garrod picked up the device and looked at the indentation where it would fit.

"If there's a God in this world, pleeeease let this work..."

He slammed the control unit into the socket, causing it, and everything else in the cockpit to start lighting up. The three walls to his front and sides lit up, allowing him to see the outside surroundings.

"HA-HA! IT WORKS!" he screamed joyfully. That shout was enough to wake Tiffa up.

"Tiffa! There IS a God!" Garrod said excitedly, his courage renewed by the new power he had under his control. He then turned his attention to the matter at hand - taking out the Koumas that threatened him and Tiffa. With one motion of the stick, Garrod moved the Gundam's legs.

"Now, stand up! Rise, Gundam!" he cried.

In spite of the added weight from three of the six Kouma standing on it, the Gundam managed to sit up and finally get to its feet, dropping two of the three demons to the ground, while the mobile suit picked up the third one by the tail.

With another loud, hot-blooded cry, Garrod slammed the monster against the wall, then against the floor before finally firing the machine's chest-mounted vulcan cannons at the beast's head. After taking enough hits, the beast disintegrated into a cloud of dust.

Grinning, Garrod then turned to the other five Kouma, who slowly began to back away while growling, their mouths drooling.

"Come on, you freaks from Hell!" the teen declared as the Gundam reached back and drew a long green beam saber; "I'll take you ALL on!" Tiffa couldn't help but be in awe of Garrod's courage and determination.

* * *

Tara poked her head into the cockpit of the Masakados. She now wore a piloting suit of the same color scheme as the machine she was going to pilot. It fit snugly against her body, but not so tight that it wasn't uncomfortable. The chest of the suit exposed her cleavage though - Jaan insisted that it was to "encourage air flow", though the young woman remained skeptical.

The cockpit itself was nothing like Tara had imagined. While it had enough screens for a panoramic 360-degree view, there were no controls that she could see. All she saw were a bunch of cables with strange straps on the end of them - two of them were attached to the floor, and three hung from the ceiling. In the center of the room was a metal circlet that looked like it encased a lot of wiring and computer chips.

"So, this is the Masakados' cockpit, huh?" she quipped as she stepped inside. "It's roomier than I expected...where are the controls on this thing, anyway?"

"The straps you see that hang from the cables on the ceiling and on the floor," Jaan explained from inside a control room - Tara had a communication earpiece in her ear for this session - "Put the ones on the floor around your ankles, and the ones hanging from the ceiling around your wrists and waist, and then place the metal circlet on your head."

Tara did so, noting that she felt a tingle coming from the circlet, and that the cables restricted her movements only a little.

"There...what next?"

"Now, tug the cables attached to your wrists and think the words 'Masakados, activate' in your mind," Jaan then said; "You can also speak it if it's more convenient for you."

"Masakados, activate!" she said loudly. Sure enough, the screens surrounding her lit up. The words "T.A.C.H.I. System" appeared on her screen for several seconds as the machine hummed to life.

"Hey, Jaany-boy," Tara said, having come up with the nickname off the top of her head. "What the heck is this T.A.C.H.I. System?"

"It stands for 'Tactical Analysis & Combat Human-machine Interface'," the young scientist answered, adjusting his glasses. "The T.A.C.H.I. System consists of three distinct parts - first, a motion-sensing system that allows the machine to fluidly mimic your movements. Go ahead and move one of your arms."

Tara raised her right arm and clenched her hand into a fist. The machine did the same, with almost perfect unison.

"Neat!" Tara said, excited about the robot. "It's doing everything I'm doing as I'm doing it!"

"That is because of the TACHI System's second part is reading your brain waves through the metal circlet. It reads your intentions and your movements, and sends them as data to the third part - a learning artificial intelligence. The AI can then decide just how much or little movement is actually needed, based on the data it gathers in combat via the various sensors."

Tara raised an eyebrow with surprise. She knew most mobile suits had a basic AI program installed in them, but one that could learn seemed odd for a manned machine.

"Okay, so why does it even need me, if it can decide just how much it wants to move?"

"Because there are things a human can perceive and do that a machine cannot," Renzo explained. "But by making your body working in harmony with the T.A.C.H.I. System, you can eventually overcome any foe, assuming you gather sufficient information...but be warned..."

Suddenly, alarms started to go off. One of the operators at the control bridge quickly examined their screen.

"Assistant Head Wilner! We're detecting activity inside the GX hangar! There are demonic energy signatures inside the hangar...and the GX is starting up!"

"The GX?!" Jaan exclaimed. "Is the moon out?"

"Y-yes, sir. It's a full moon tonight," the operator replied. "There's also two different sets of other signals - one coming from an _Alps_-class landship, and another from what appears to be a company of Alternative Company mobile suits!"

"I see," Jaan replied grimly, then turned back to the girl. "Tara! It seems you'll have to go into combat right now. Someone has found and started up a very dangerous mobile suit inside a hangar connected to this facility, southwest of here. We do not know if the one who activated it is human or demon, so we can only assume the worst. For the sake of everyone here, you MUST neutralize it before its power is unleashed!"

"S-sure. If you say so," Tara replied, understandably nervous at what was to come.

"All systems are green!" another operator called out. "Launch tunnel is open and ready! Just say the word, Miss Amakuni!"

The girl took a deep breath and readied herself, adjusting her stance to one that wouldn't make her fall over.

"Tara Amakuni...Masakados...heading out!"

The launch catapult that the Masakados was standing on sprung forward, carrying it through the tunnel, and out into the wastes...

* * *

Garrod panted heavily as the last of the Kouma fell before his Gundam's beam saber. As he looked around, he felt very satisfied with himself.

_Dad...I did it...I can actually avenge you now! _he thought.

He turned to Tiffa, whose expression has suddenly turned to a completely neutral one, as if she was in a bit of a daze. As it turned out, Garrod's battle wasn't over yet - as two more Gundams now stood before him, having just arrived.

One of them was a greenish-blue Gundam with only one set of horns and no backpack - instead, it had a three turreted gatling cannon on its right arm, and a larger one hanging behind its left shoulder.

The other was a white Gundam with a red head, and red accents on it. It had folded wings on its back, and a pair of beam rifles hanging from its hips.

"Heh...it's a Gundam-type...this should make things interesting," said the pilot of the white and red Gundam, a young man with short, shocked up blonde hair and aquamarine eyes. He was wearing a leather coat with a wool collar and liner, a blue pinstriped shirt, gray slacks and black combat boots.

"Oh brother," groaned the pilot of the green-blue Gundam, a man with neck-length brown hair and eyes. He was sporting a blue survival vest, yellow shirt, white pants and white sneakers.

At first, Garrod didn't know what to think. But then he saw the _Freeden _chugging over the hill, kicking up dust as it approached - the Vultures had come for him and Tiffa.

"...Tiffa, don't worry; I won't let them take you away again," the green-eyed young man reassured the girl.

* * *

As the _Freeden _closed in, Jamil gazed intently at the mobile suit that the Roybea Loy, in the Gundam Leopard, and Witz Sou, in the Gundam Airmaster, faced. It was one he was all too familiar with...the GX-9900 Gundam X.

"Is the moon out?" he asked. His bridge crew turned and looked at him, puzzled by this seemingly random question.

"I said, is the moon out?!" he asked, his voice barely betraying the desperation within him.

"Yes sir...i-it's a full moon tonight."

Jamil was about to order the two to attack, but then he had a thought - the one who had taken Tiffa was just a kid, and the way she seemed to go with him so willingly even though there had probably never met. What was more, the young man took her in the _opposite _direction of where Alternative Company's forces were waiting - perhaps there was a chance he could be reasoned with; to be made to see that he and the crew of the _Freeden _only had Tiffa's well-being in mind.

"You, pilot of that Gundam...we don't have to resolve this with violence," Jamil said. "All we want is that girl back, so we can keep her safe."

"Why should I believe you?" Garrod replied angrily. Tiffa blinked in surprise, but was still dazed from opening the seal on the Gundam's containment chamber.

"Whoa, it's a kid's voice!" Roybea exclaimed, surprised. The other bridge crew were also shocked at the identity of Tiffa's kidnapper. After all, only Jamil had seen just who had taken her away.

"We RESCUED her from people who would abuse the gifts she has!" Jamil replied, his pleas get more passionate.

"Gifts, sir?" the blonde woman who had been in the shower asked.

"How do I know you don't want to do the same thing?!" Garrod retorted. "I may be just a kid, but I'm not an idiot! I won't let ANYONE use Tiffa!"

"Captain...there are other mobile suits headed our way," the woman with brown hair said. "They'll be on top of us in only a few minutes!"

The purity of Garrod's resolve, the fire in his soul...Jamil couldn't help but see his younger self in him. He decided to try another approach - convincing Garrod would take too long.

"Tiffa...if you can hear me...please, you have to believe me!" he said, now addressing Tiffa. "I understand what you went through! I understand completely! That's why I took you away from them...so you'd never have to suffer like that again!"

The girl thought back on her time on the _Freeden_. Everyone in the Vultures had been kind to her - they never subjected her to those experiments, nor did they do any of those "treatments" in some depraved attempt to "strengthen her abilities".

"Garrod...the Vultures...they are good people," Tiffa finally said to her protector, sensing the truth and sincerity in the captain's voice and words. It was only when Garrod heard Tiffa vouch for Jamil's words that he finally opted to relent - but even then he was still suspicious of them.

But before he could act, a missile struck the area between him and the two other Gundams. They all looked up and saw a small army of enemy mobile suits - three-eyed Daughtress mobile suits with red frames around the eyes, dark blue bodies and orange chest armor. One of the suits had a long simply horn sticking out the top of the frame.

"Well done, Garrod Ran," the voice of a man that Garrod knew well came over the communicators.

"Reich Anto!" Garrod exclaimed. "How did you find me?"

"In case this sort of thing happened, we planted a tracking chip underneath her skin," the man explained. "That's why you were able to find her so quickly...because we knew where the Vultures would be!"

"Tracking chip?" the Gundam X's pilot gasped before turning to the now terrified girl in his lap. "Tiffa, you gotta believe me...I never intended this to happen at all!"

"But not only did you find Tiffa Adill for us," Reich continued; "But you even managed to commandeer a GX-9900 AND get the Vultures into a vulnerable position for us! You are truly a master of your trade!"

"That kid tricked us! He lured us right into a trap!" Roybea cried angrily.

"Now, if you would be so kind as to move, so we can deal with these pests."

Tiffa looked at Garrod for reassurance. He nodded once more, to show that she could trust him as her protector.

"...OVER MY DEAD BODY!" the young man roared, pulling out the Gundam X's beam rifle.

* * *

Tara felt odd - she was not moving her legs, yet the Masakados was running at full tilt in the direction that the hangar was in, all in response to her will for it to do so. During her run, she had gotten a brief rundown of the Masakados' armaments and other capabilities. Apparently it could keep watch behind her and warn her of incoming attacks from any direction.

"I must say, the magic of this era is incredible!" the mech's ghostly namesake said; "Torches and candles without flames; boxes that can show images and reproduce sounds from great distances as if they were right there; steel giants that men can control with their hands, feet or their thoughts, and even a way to live above the clouds!"

"I guess it is pretty amazing when you think about it," Tara replied thoughtfully. Suddenly, the machine stopped, just at the edge of a cliff, shifting her attention. She looked down and saw what was going on below - the three Gundams and the _Freeden _were fighting back against a horde of Daughtresses. The color scheme was one Tara recognized right away - Alternative Company, after all, was one of BizenTech Laboratories' biggest competitors.

"Hey guys...I don't see any demons," she said into her mech's communicator. "Just a bunch of Alternative Company mobile suits fighting what look like some scrappers with some Gundam-type mobile suits and a landship. Is one of them my target?"

"That landship...it's the _Freeden_!" one of the operators said, recognizing the ship, getting an image feed from the Masakados' own optics.

_Jamil...he was one of_ _Dr. Amakuni's friends from the war, _Jaan thought.

"Very well then. Do what you must to protect the landship and its mobile suits," he said; "It's better that mere scrappers possess that mobile suit than if our competitor does."

"Okay then," Tara replied, her heart racing. She had engaged in this sort of combat in her video games back home...but she knew the difference between fantasy and reality. She had only one life, one save file and if she died, that was it...no retries, no reloading.

She turned to the ghost of Masakado, who nodded to show his belief in her. She then bent her knees and jumped, causing the Masakados to do the same, and it began sliding down the cliff.

* * *

"Captain! There's an unknown mobile weapon descending from the northeast!" the brown-haired woman called out when she saw Masakados sliding down the cliff, firing what seemed to be plasma from its wrist launchers. "It's opening fire on the enemy mobile suits!"

"Malme, talk to 'em!" Jamil ordered, looking straight at the blonde woman as he did.

"Come in, unknown pilot!" the blonde woman said; "This is Communications Officer Toniya Malme of the _Freeden_! State your name and affiliation or we will consider you an enemy!"

"My name's Tara Amakuni, pilot of the Masakados - and right now I'm working for BizenTech Laboratories! I've been ordered to back you guys up!"

"BizenTech?" Toniya exclaimed, also recognizing the company name; "Hey, wasn't HE working for them back then, Captain?"

Jamil smiled a bit and nodded. "This is Captain Jamil Neate of the _Freeden_. We acknowledge you as our ally. We greatly appreciate your support."

Tara turned just in time to spot a Daughtress headed her way, its beam saber drawn. She gripped Masakado's sword, which she was using as a sort of visualization aid.

_Okay, Tara...just don't hit the chest, _she told herself._ The head, arms and legs are all fair game...just NOT the chest._

Tara waited, and then when the Daughtress got close enough, she side-stepped it and slashed off its head and right arm, successfully disabling the mobile suit without killing the pilot. She sighed with relief, but then suddenly felt a tingle in her mind - the AI was warning her about an attack from behind.

"There!" she cried, cutting down the enemy by slashing off both of its legs. She looked up, only to see at least a dozen more heading their way - it was a mix of Daughtresses, Jenices, and a few other kinds she didn't recognize.

"What the?! More of them?!" Masakado exclaimed. "How does our enemy have access to so many steel giants?!"

"They're probably scrappers too...probably some sort of bandits!" Tara replied as she dodged one of them.

"To have these many rogues and ruffians concentrated in a single place," the samurai ghost said, looking over at the Gundam X. "Does our enemy truly desire that white giant so badly?!"

* * *

The Gundam X fired a beam rifle shot into a charging Jenice as Garrod tried his hardest to keep the enemies away.

"Damn it...there's still so many of them left..." he growled. He tried to fire the beam rifle, only for a warning about it being out of ammo came up on his screen.

"Crud! Now my rifle's out of ammo!"

Gundam X clenched the beam saber and slashed at an enemy Daughtress, cutting through the cockpit with one slash.

"But...I can't die here!" he cried; "I WON'T die! I won't let HER die! I won't..."

Suddenly, the Gundam X was shot by a bazooka round, causing it to falter. Then he was hit by several more. Before long, his machine was pinned down. Its armor held up surprisingly well, though.

"Dammit...we've come so far up to now," Garrod grunted, clenching the control unit.

"Garrod..." Tiffa suddenly said.

"Tiffa?"

"I will...grant you power," the girl answered as she closed her eyes as her consciousness soared into the heavens...

* * *

In an abandoned base on the moon, Tiffa's thoughts suddenly activated a computer that had been left off for the two-and-a-half decades since that catastrophe.

The computer, seeming to acknowledge the data sent to it telepathically, sent coordinates to a large turret with a satellite dish and antenna on it, which took aim and fired a thin laser beam toward the Earth...

* * *

Jamil felt an enormous pressure in his head as and a feeling of supreme dread filled him.

IT was coming.

"Everyone! Get away now!" Jamil ordered loudly, the desperation in his voice now apparent. "Even if you have to go THROUGH the enemy, get out of there NOW!" He watched as the Gundam Leopard and Airmaster suddenly began tearing a swath through the inferior mobile suits. With that, he turned his attention to Tiffa, but said nothing, yet he seemed to be trying to communicate with her telepathically...the last remnant of the powers he once had.

_Tiffa? Please, whatever you do...you mustn't activate that weapon! I beg of you!_

But Tiffa wasn't listening - he felt the buzz of static in his brain.

"Damn it...it's no good..."

Jamil held his hands up to his ears, grunting in pain as blood began to leak out out of them, and between his fingers...

* * *

"Get away?" Tara exclaimed, puzzled as to what Jamil was talking about. "But don't we have to..." Suddenly, she heard a computerized voice come from the speakers around her.

_Warning: High-intensity microwave radiation detected on moon's surface. Searching for shortest escape route..._

After a few seconds of silence, it spoke again.

_Route found - route blocked by enemies. Combat unavoidable._

"Go through them?!" Tara protested. "But that's..."

_Pilot interference to own survival detected. Initiating AI Override Program... _

Tara suddenly felt her spine tingle unpleasantly as electrical pulses from the circlet on her head coursed through her nerves...and then she felt as if some animal part of her had taken over. That part's only thought now was survival, even if she had to cut her way through the enemy to do it. Without any hesitation, she willed Masakados forward and began swinging the blade ruthlessly, cutting through the enemy mobile suits with ease. Heads, limbs and even cockpit pieces went flying everywhere.

Unfortunately for the part of the girl that only wanted to protect people, all she do was watch as her body caused Masakados to slice and stab through enemy after enemy. Her mind could faintly hear the screams of agony and horror as each pilot meet a grisly fate...

_No...that's not...stop it! No more killing! Please, no more!_

After what seemed like an eternity of watching herself kill mercenary after mercenary, an unusual light appeared on the moon momentarily. The Masakados suddenly veered to the right and bounded up the cliff...and then, Tara suddenly found herself in control of her own body again...but now had to witness the reason that the Masakados' AI decided to , the Leopard and Airmaster stood, watching the events going on in the valley below. The _Freeden _also appeared to be getting clear of the valley, its hover jets working in overdrive to get up the cliff.

"Wow, that was something, kiddo," Witz commented. "You really tore through those guys there." He didn't realize that the girl was too mortified by the actions her body had taken against her will to reply.

"It's nothing compared to what's coming next," Roybea said grimly.

* * *

"What's this...'Satellite System'?" Garrod said, puzzled by what had just been activated in the machine. He turned to Tiffa, who simply nodded. Somehow, she knew that her protector could be trusted with this power.

"Is this the power...all right then..."

As the chest plate on the Gundam X opened, a laser beam shot out from the moon and struck the exposed part. This somehow caused the fins on the Gundam's back to change - they arranged themselves in the shape of an X as a large cannon flipped up and into the mobile suit's hands.

"All right," Garrod said; "After 4.03 seconds - the microwave will..."

"It's coming!" Tiffa said.

Barely four seconds later, a great hole formed in the clouds above them, as a great invisible force descended on them from the moon. Another .03 seconds later, the fins began to glow as the energy began to fill up the weapon. This sight caused all of the enemies to cease their attack, dumbstruck by what was going on.

"It's fully charged!" Garrod said excitedly, hoping that this new power would be able to save them.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T FIRE!" Jamil's voice screamed over Garrod's communicator...but it fell on deaf ears.

**"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"** the boy bellowed.

The cannon fired with tremendous force - more than any weapon any of them had ever seen. The beam, made purely of charged microwave energy, tore across the landscape, consuming everything in its path in a matter of seconds. The force of the air the beam displaced even began to push Gundam X back, straining both it and its pilot.

Soon, everything for miles around the blast site was swallowed by a bright light...although Garrod's allies had all managed to narrowly avoid the power.

Once the light faded, Garrod opened his eyes, then gaped in awe at what now lay before him - everything in the area was totally wiped out - plants, trees, and of course the enemies. The only thing left intact inside the crater was the Gundam, the source of the destruction.

"So this is the Gundam's power?" he gasped. "But...we're still alive! Tiffa, we did it! We're still alive!"

He turned to Tiffa, who he noticed was now white as a sheet.

"Tiffa?"

The girl was sitting stock still, her expression frozen into one of abject horror...horror at the power she had just unleashed. But it wasn't just that.

Her pupils contracted as she clasped her head and started to scream at the top of her lungs, as if she was in horrendous pain. After a few seconds of this, Tiffa fainted, collapsing into Garrod's arms.

* * *

"Captain...what was that just now?" the navigator of the _Freeden _said, awestruck by the Gundam's terrifying display of power.

"That...that was a nightmare," Jamil replied as horrible memories from the war began to silently play back in his head; "A living nightmare from 25 years ago..."

_Tiffa...too many died, _the captain thought, as he contemplated what was going on in the poor girl's mind; _And now you will..._

* * *

Jiron Amos, a short young man with a round face, nose and brown hair, only had to take one look at that blue Walker Machine to know that he wanted it. It was going to help him find that desperado and avenge his father's death, three day rule be damned.

And with his new friends, a scrapper group called the Sandrats, it looked like he was going to pull it off.

The Walker Machine in question actually consisted of two sections - one resembling a car, the other resembling a small trailer. Jiron leaped into the car section and looked around.

"Wow! They left the key in here and everything!" Jiron said excitedly; "These Cargo guys can't be all that good if they'd do something like this with the Innocents' latest model!"

The young man grabbed hold of the steering wheel with one hand and turned the ignition key with the other. Meanwhile, a very impish little girl with blue hair and goggles jumped into the trailer part.

"Chiru! Let's make this thing transform!" he called out to the little girl.

"Gotcha, Jiron!" she called back. They both pulled levers on their respective sections, causing the machine to start changing, its parts folding and extending as needed.

After a few seconds, the machine's transformation was complete - it looked very much like a crude mobile suit - its head was vaguely conical, with the windshield of the car forming into the cockpit window. The trailer, which had been a plane prior to transforming, provided a set of metal wings of sorts. The rest of its body was blocky and rectangular, even though its gait was very human-like. All in all, it seemed almost like an oversized toy compared to the mobile suits of the UNE.

Nearby, three different, much cruder Walker Machines with three-clawed arms and legs were running around giving the slip to similar ones - the three ones being chased were dark green in color, the ones doing the chasing were brick red - the three green ones were simple Gallops, the most common model nowadays, while the red ones were Duggers, another common model.

"Hey! Those two did it!" cheered Rag, a girl with a red bandana around her neck and short hair that was tied up on top, as she saw the blue Walker Machine transform.

"That guy's not bad," said Birume, a boy with purple hair with a curl on the front.

"Yeah! But that's only because he's the main character, right?" asked Dike, a large fellow with a pronounced chin.

Meanwhile, nearby, a great orange landship sat parked. On the bridge, two people were watching the mayhem: a bespectacled man with blonde hair, and a young woman with green hair and blue eyes.

"I must say, Cotset," the lady said to the man with a little smirk on her face and a somewhat dreamy look in her eyes as she watched Jiron do battle with a few other mooks in Gallops; "That Jiron fellow is quite a man. It takes a lot of guts for someone to steal a new-model Walker Machine in broad daylight."

"How can you say that, Miss Elche?!" Cotset exclaimed, shocked at such a statement. "He's making off with the Walker Machine your late father worked so hard to buy! Next, you're going to say you're going to hire him or something?"

"...I wasn't initially thinking that, but that's not a bad idea," the woman replied. "Ever since that droopy-eyed Kid Hola and his Breakers deserted us, we've been rather short-handed. Oh, and do call me 'Captain', if you would, Engineer Cotset? The Iron Gear is MY ship, after all."

"Yes, Miss," the engineer replied with a sigh of defeat. He watched his mistress seemingly fall head over heels for the newcomer ever since he first showed up two days ago. He now watched her walk up to the microphone on the bridge.

"Jiron Amos! This is Elche Cargo!" she said, her voice reaching far across the landscape thanks to the ship's built-in megaphone; "I have a proposition for you!"

Jiron and Chiru stopped and looked up at the landship.

"A proposition? What kind of proposition?" Jiron yelled back even as he continued fighting, smacking one of the Duggers with his own Walker Machine's fist.

"If you and your little gang stay and work for me," Elche said, somehow able to hear Jiron over the fighting; "I'll let you KEEP Xabungle and the other Walker Machines you took! I'll even let you all stay on the Iron Gear! I'll even throw in three square meals a day!"

"Sounds too good to be true," Jiron thought before yelling back. What's the catch?" He turned and put out his mech's hands just in time to catch another Walker Machine's fist, then tear it off.

"There is none!" the woman said, now getting visibly annoyed; "It's exactly what I said...you and your friends do WORK for ME, and I'll let YOU and your FRIENDS stay on MY ship, the Iron Gear!"

"Whaddya think, Chiru?" Xabungle's main pilot asked his co-pilot as he fired his rifle, blowing another Dugger to smithereens, although its pilot was able to eject in time.

"Okay," the girl said, shrugging her shoulders.

"All right!" Jiron yelled back as he kicked yet another one of Elche's grunts out of the way. "Ya got yourself a deal! Now call off yer grunts and we can hammer out the details!"

"Um...that was the last of 'em, Jiron," Chiru said innocently, looking around. Indeed, the blue Walker Machine, Xabungle, had broken every last Walker Machine in the area, save for those of his companions. Thankfully, none of the Breakers piloting them had been killed - they had all escaped in time and fled for their lives.

"Something tells me this is going to be beginning of something way out of our league," Cotset sighed. "I guess I better get started on more Help Wanted posters..."

* * *

_The word count is...well, you may be able to guess what the Scouter says._

_Anyway, next time, we get Xabungle's plot going some more, and start the plot of another series. Which will it be? Stay tuned!_


	4. Chapter 3

_Today, after a little stuff with the _Freeden_, we turn our attention to another landship - the Iron Gear, and we also begin the saga of Gurren Lagann! How will their fates be intertwined? Read on and find out!_

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Hot Blood in the Wastes! Red Face, Blue Gale!**

Back at BizenTech's facility, Tara sat in the pilot's dressing room, staring at her hands, while Masakado only looked on, unsure of how to comfort her. He could only watch as Witz Sou entered the room, as if looking for her

"There you are, kiddo," the Airmaster's pilot said; "You okay? That wasn't bad for your first battle."

"I...I killed people," Tara answered, her voice trembling.

"Yeah...that you did," Witz said with a small nod, but a neutral expression.

"I KILLED people!" the girl suddenly screamed, getting right in his face. "I cut short the lives of people with hopes, dreams, and wishes...I slaughtered people's fathers, mothers, sons, or daughters! I killed them without hesitating!"

"Typical domer," he sighed. "You're always like that the first time you get into a battle."

"What the heck's a domer, anyway?" Tara replied angrily even as tears dripped down her face; "And is thinking that way WRONG?! That killing other people is horrible?!"

"Of course it's not wrong to think that way!" Witz replied, yelling back. "It's perfectly normal for domers like you - you come from a society where life is ordered, peaceful and easy."

The scrapper stepped back a little.

"But...out here? It's chaotic, brutal and completely unforgiving. It's a world where the only person you can totally depend on is yourself...where people have to scavenge whatever resources they can. They often have to fight, kill and steal in order to get them."

Tara sniffled a bit.

"The big war may have ended twenty-five years ago...but there are now countless little wars going on...personal wars for survival. That's just how we scrappers live. If you don't like it, you can crawl back to whatever dome you came from and into your safe, comfy little bed!"

"What if I can't?!" the Masakados' pilot yelled back. "In the past fifteen hours, I've lost everything...my possessions, my home, my parents, and I even lost control of my..."

"Well then, you better get used to doing without them, girlie," Witz finally said as he started to leave, disgusted by Tara's moaning; "Because unless you change that self-righteous mindset of yours, this world's going to EAT. YOU. ALIVE." With that, he left, the door closing behind him automatically. Masakado, having watched the whole thing, was understandably furious as he approached the girl.

"Tara, if you desire it, I'll give that man his just desserts!" he said; "That man has no idea that you were stripped of control of your own body!"

"No...i-it's okay," Tara replied. "I'll just have to get used to it, I guess." Suddenly, the door opened again. Jamil entered this time.

"Amakuni," he said in a gentler tone. "Don't take what Sou said too personally. He just tells it like it is. Anyway, Dr. Nielstein and I talked it over. I know your story now, more or less."

"Talked what over?" Tara asked, wiping the tears off her face. "And who's Dr. Nielstein?"

"He's the current head of the Masakados' development team," Jamil explained; "They thought it best if you stayed on the _Freeden _instead of traveling by yourself."

"But my mother..." Tara said, her eyes seeming to beg the _Freeden_'s captain to rethink it.

"Don't worry. I promised to keep a lookout for her on our travels...after all and I go back a ways. Wish I could have seen him one more time."

Tara was shocked. How could her father know a scrapper?

"More importantly," Jamil continued, his tone getting serious again. "Your sudden burst of combat skill came from your machine's AI system shutting down your higher mental processes, according to Dr. Nielstein. The AI may be able to determine friend from foe on its own, but you might need someone to snap you back to reality so you don't do anything stupid."

"What about that Tiffa girl and Garrod kid...and the mobile suit with that monstrous weapon?"

"Garrod is in the _Freeden_'s hold, and we have the GX in our hangar. As for Tiffa...well...let's just say the weight of her deed was too much for her mind to bear."

"Huh?"

"Tiffa is a special kind of person...a Newtype. They are gifted - or perhaps cursed with - mental powers that normal humans do not possess. In Tiffa's case...well..."

* * *

Garrod couldn't believe it, yet when Jamil explained it to her, it explained her reaction. Her Newtype powers allowed her to, among other things, read minds. The thoughts of pain and death coming from others all flooded her mind - it was a miracle that her psyche hadn't been shattered right there.

He stood against the far wall in his prison within the _Freeden_, banging his head against it.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why'd you have to go and make Tiffa do that, you moron?!" he said angrily as he stepped away from the hall and got onto the lower tier of a two-tiered bunk bed. "I just gotta make it up to her somehow...man, if only I knew what I could do.."

The bed, as it turned out, was surprisingly comfortable, considering that Garrod was used to sleeping on the ground or on hard surfaces...and the whole experience completely exhausted him. The next thing he knew, he was out like a light, and snoring rather loudly...

* * *

Near the Masakados' launch ramp, Jaan was running some diagnostic checks on the machine's systems when he heard someone approaching him. It was Tara, looking particularly pissed off. He was about to greet her, only to be slugged in the face, knocking him down with one punch.

"Ow!" Jaan exclaimed as he sat up. "What was that for? What did I do?!"

"Why didn't you TELL ME?!" Tara yelled, her emotions still a violent torrent.

"About what?" the young scientist asked as he started to get up.

"About the Gundam X and its Satellite Cannon!" the Masakados' pilot said angrily. "Not only that, I was forced by the AI to kill people, just to escape...you could have warned me about that too!"

"Tara Amakuni...if you must blame anyvone for getting your hands stained vith blood, zen you can blame me."

The two looked over and saw a short, elderly gentleman with wild hair and an incredible thick gray beard and mustache, enough to make it seem like his head was all hair. He wore extremely thick spectacles and a lab coat, and walked with a cane.

"Oh, Dr. Nielstein. Glad to see you're all better," Jaan replied. "Tara, this is Dr. Ludwig Nielstein. He's the project's overall supervisor."

"I vas the one who vanted zat feature included. It vas a measure to prevent you from getting killed as a result of a foolish decision. However..."

The elderly scientist whacked his subordinate in his left shin with his cane.

"Ow!" Jaan cried.

"You _dummkopf_!" Dr. Nielstein yelled, wagging his finger indignantly at Jaan. "You failed to varn her about them!"

"But sir, the GX-9900..." the younger scientist exclaimed.

"It vould have taken but a few seconds!" his superior yelled, whacking him in his other shin. "You rushed her into battle vithout zinking!"

"I'm sorry, sir..." Jaan finally said, defeated.

"Now! Get your zings onto za _Freeden_!" the bearded scientist said. "Zey vill be leaving soon! SCHNEL!"

"Oh, yes! I almost forgot!" the young scientist said, hurrying off in another direction.

"Huh?!" Tara exclaimed as she watched him rush off. "He's coming with me?"

"Jaan vill be in charge of zee Masakados' upkeep und maintenance," Dr. Nielstein explained; "Other than myzelf and your fahzer, he knows zeh most about zee Masakados' vorkings. In addition, I zink some time in za vastes vill help strengthzen zat spineless boy's vill. You will help with zat, nein?"

"Sure...I guess," Tara replied. The scientist smiled, and gave Tara a hearty slap on the back.

"Vell zen, I bid you farevell," he said before leaving; "Und best of luck!"

* * *

With that, the _Freeden _was off. It took off to the northwest, and was hovering just a few dozen feet over the ocean, moving from the islands of Japan to the mainland. Jamil decided to take the time to explain their plans for the immediate future to his crew and the mobile weapon pilots.

"So, where's our destination, Captain?" the navigator asked. "If we keep heading northwest, we'll be heading for Siberian Railroad's territory - and you know how they get."

"After that last battle, we're going to need to refill our ammunition stocks and replace some parts on the _Freeden,_" Jamil explained. "There's a bazaar on the mainland about three hundred kilometers west from our current position...we can restock there, and perhaps find some better medical care for Tiffa."

"What if we run into Breakers?" Toniya asked uneasily. "It sounds like we'll be headed into their territory."

"You mean those pint-sized scrappers in their gas-powered hunks of junk?" Witz laughed. "Pft, they'd be no problem."

"I dunno," Roybea said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I've heard rumors that their Walker Machines can take all kinds of punishment. Even a lot of mobile suits couldn't withstand what those 'hunks of junk' can."

Tara wondered just what these Breakers were truly capable of, and whether she'd have the guts to take their lives if it came down to it...

* * *

For Simon, a meek, blue-haired boy that always wore a pair of goggles, there was one thing he was really good at - digging. And in the underground village of Jiha, it was the digger's job to expand the village. While others just slowly hummed along, Simon eagerly dug with his little hand-cranked drill. On days where he dug a lot, he would get to eat pig-mole steaks.

But on this particular day, his drill came to a stop when he banged on something unusually hard just ahead of him. The boy paused to see what it was, widening the tunnel as needed. After moving away a little dirt, he found something shiny - a small, golden drill-shaped object about the size of his thumb. On the flat end, there was a little loop.

What Simon really liked about digging was the fact that he would sometimes find treasure - and this was his best find yet, especially when he saw what was just in front of him now - a large metal face.

He figured he had done enough to earn his steaks for the day, so Simon started digging back to the village itself - a vast cavern with numerous walkways, side caves and circular ramps. Once back, he started on his way back to his own little hole, where he would sleep and wait for dinner. But the whole way, he was completely enraptured by the shiny object he had dug up.

So much so, that he didn't see the person he had bumped into: Kamina.

Kamina was a tall, athletically built young man who also had blue hair, though it was far spikier. He had all sorts of blue tattoos on his arms and torso, and wore flared out trousers. But his most distinguishing feature were a pair of pointy, triangular sunglasses he always had perched on his nose. When the young man saw Simon, he flipped up his glasses.

"Oh, hey there, little bro. Whatcha got there?" Kamina asked in a friendly manner. "C'mon, you know you can show your big bro your treasure!" Simon warily looked left and right, then showed the drill to the teen.

"Nice find," Kamina said with a satisfied nod. "Here, let me help ya with that."

Kamina reached into his pockets and produced some thick string. He threaded it through the loop, carefully tied the two ends together, then put the completed pendant around Simon's neck.

"Looks good on ya, bro." the young man said, nodding. "After all, the drill is the embodiment of your soul, Simon...and one day, your drill is gonna dig us all the way through the heavens and up to the surface!" Suddenly, something popped out of Simon's cloak: a small pigmole that appeared to be wearing miniature sunglasses of its own, and made a little sound as if it was agreeing.

"See, even Boota thinks so!" Kamina said heartily.

He was like that. To the rest of the village, he was just some idiot talking big and acting like the epitome of manliness, but to Simon, he was like the big brother he never had.

At the very least, the brash teen knew how to raise his mood.

But Simon's mood suddenly turned to terror when the cavern that was the village started to shake. All around them, the villagers went into the panic, rushing into nearby tunnels. Only he and Kamina remained out in the open, much to the former's alarm.

"Kamina, we gotta get away!" Simon cried.

"Real men don't run from anything, Simon!" Kamina said proudly, leering at Simon as if looking down on him for his cowardice.

"But if we don't...we'll be crushed!" the digger cried, his eyes filled with fright, and on the verge of bursting to tears. When Kamina saw Simon's scared face, he realized that his little bro's fright was far from unwarranted.

"Oh, that's right...you lost your mom and dad in a cave-in," Kamina said sympathetically, wrapping his arms around Simon, like a father would to ease his terrified child's mind, and holding him against his body.

After several seconds, the tremor stopped.

"See? It's over. Nothing to be scared of," the tattooed teen said gently before raising his head and looking around at the scared villagers with contempt.

"Are you all gonna keep living like this?" he bellowed. "Running into your holes like frightened animals whenever the earth shakes a little?! Up on the surface, there's no walls or ceiling...only open, blue sky!"

Suddenly, the tremors started again, this time far more violently. The ceiling started to crack and crumble...the roof was indeed caving in.

Simon, more frightened for his big bro's safety than his own, quickly grabbed Kamina's wrist and pulled him out of the way, just as the entire roof started to fall, bringing what appeared to be a gigantic bull's head with sharp teeth down with it.

_I knew this would happen one day, _Simon thought; _I knew this was gonna happen! _

But once the roof has finished collapsing, the pair saw something wondrous coming from the hole in the ceiling: sunlight. The villagers who had escaped the collapse and the fall of the monstrous bull's head could only gaze in awe. Even the village chief, a somewhat muscular man with a big gut, was enraptured by the sight. The long, sheathed nodachi he always carried now lay flat on his chest.

Kamina grinned widely, rushed out onto the rubble, and dramatically posed there, pointing to the hole in the ceiling.

"You see?" the young man cried out victoriously; "I TOLD you there was a surface! This big mug fell from it!"

He looked down at the village chief, whose awe had suddenly turned to terror as the monstrous head began to rise up thanks to arms and legs it had. Other villagers began to panic and run. While Simon was also frightened, something kept him from following suit, even as he tried to warn Kamina to flee.

"What? You're not protect the village? I guess you're the liar now, huh?" Kamina said mockingly. He stomped on the sword, causing it to flip up and spin around the young man's neck and shoulders until he caught it by the grip. He then turned back to the monstrosity.

"Hey, hey, heeeeey!" Kamina called out in an extremely confrontational manner. "You've got guts to plow your way into our village! But that ends here, 'cause I've had it up to here with your shenanigans!"

To everyone's further shock, the behemoth's mouth began to move as a growling voice came from it.

"Wha? Who the hell are you?" it asked.

"I'm gonna tell you, so get the wax out of your ears and listen close! The reputation of Team Gurren echoes far and wide! When people talk about its badass leader, they're talking about that man of indomitable spirit, that paragon of masculinity...ME, the great Kamina!"

The rest of the village just shook their heads at Kamina's apparent idiocy.

"Heh...and what's a puny little Undergrounder like you gonna do about it?" the head replied derisively. Suddenly, something struck the metal monstrosity on the head.

The two looked up and saw someone swinging in - a pale-skinned girl with yellow eyes, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old. She had long red hair tied up in a ponytail, and wore a pair of trapezoidal, orange-tinted sunglasses (much more practical than the ones Kamina wore), black bikini top with red flames on it, white bikini bottom, stockings that went halfway up her thighs, and surprisingly fashionable white boots. She was carrying what appeared to be a high-powered sniper rifle. Of course, what immediately caught Simon and Kamina's eyes first were her rather substantial bust and butt, which made one wonder if she wasn't older.

The girl fired several more super-conducted rounds at the monstrosity, managing to knock it down, then landed, skidding backwards, unaware that she was giving the two young men a close-up of her buttocks.

"You two, get out of here!" the girl said as she stood up fully and started running. "I've only knocked it down - it'll be up in a second."

"Hey, baby! Need a hand? I'd be more than happy to lend one!" Kamina said flirtatiously as he ran alongside her.

The monstrous bull head brought down a massive metal club, forcing Yoko and Kamina to dodge out of the way, only to stumble into a small pit, the former landing on the latter's lap. But they weren't alone long - Simon popped out of a smaller hole that he had somehow dug in the few seconds between the girl's arrival and now.

"Thanks, Simon! Nice save!" the katana-wielding teen said gratefully.

"Hurry up! This way!" Simon said before diving back into the tunnel. Kamina and the girl followed the boy into the tunnel, the former getting another chance to ogle the latter's behind.

* * *

For the Sandrats, manual labor wasn't quite what they were expecting. Mining and moving Blue Stones was hard for their small bodies. But for Jiron, it was just fine.

As the son of a Rockman and a Rockman himself, his strong body was well-trained for the job of mining this seemingly useless, but valuable ore that served as the currency among the scrappers in the eastern part of the world - and it was the job of the company Elche inherited, Carrying Cargo, to transport this ore. Of course, the company also transported other things, including scraps for repairing Walker Machines.

Which was exactly what they were doing today - the Iron Gear had just stumbled upon the wreck of several large robots that resembled the monstrous bull head that was even now rampaging through Jiha Village. The parts contained therein would be extremely valuable, so Jiron and company were immediately sent to scavenge what they could...after all, it looked like no one had looted it yet - which meant it had been active not long ago.

"Hurry it up! It's not often we get this much fresh Ganmen armor plating!" Elche yelled from the bridge of the Iron Gear. "You guys want your three square meals? Then you gotta earn 'em!"

"Geez, what a slave driver," Rag grumbled as her Gallop dragged a piece of plating along the desert ground. "I don't get what Jiron sees in her."

"I dunno, this might not be so bad," Dike said. "If all we have to do to get our food and place to sleep is drag some stuff around, then it's a good deal!"

Meanwhile, Jiron was maneuvering Xabungle as it carried a pair of horns from the Ganmen wreck and put them down on a lift. As his mech rose up, the Rockman suddenly spotted a number of Walker Machines heading straight for them - mostly Duggers, but there was one that looked somewhat different - it had a pair of large turrets instead of hands on its arms, and its had smaller guns on its head.

"Elche, we've got some Breakers headed straight for us!" Jiron yelled. "One of them looks pretty fancy! Not Xabungle-fancy, but you get what I mean!"

"Wow...Hola sure came back quick," Cotset said, looking through a pair of simple binoculars. "Think he came to apologize?"

"I doubt it," Elche said, swiping the binoculars from her engineer. "If he really wanted to kiss and make up, he wouldn't come back riding his Promeus, especially not with a dozen other Walker Machines behind him. Tell Jiron and the others to get into battle positions."

"Yes, Miss," the engineer said with a sigh.

"For the fifteenth time today...Call! Me! Captain!" the green-haired woman yelled suddenly.

"I'm sorry Mi...erm...Captain," Cotset said, cringing a bit in the face of his boss' wrath.

"That's better," Elche said with a smile and a satisfactory nod. She watched as the two groups of Walker Machines approached each other, with the Promeus leading one, and Xabungle leading the other. They paused a hundred yards or so from each other, and stared each other down. After a minute or two, in which several tumbleweeds rolled by, the Promeus' pilot, a smug-looking fellow with dark hair and eyes, and a slightly pronounced chin, stuck his head out of the window and started yelling up toward the Iron Gear's bridge.

"I see you hired yerself some new goons, Miss!" yelled the Promeus' pilot, to Elche, in a rather mocking tone.

"Goons? Have you looked in a mirror lately, Kid?!" Elche yelled back, appalled that her father's former employee would even consider himself a non-goon.

"My offer's still on the table!" Kid called. "Become my blushing bride and I'll make Carrying Cargo prosper like...!"

But Jiron was not exactly patient, especially with someone like Kid. He quickly closed the hundred yards between the two groups and belted Kid's Walker Machine with a massive punch.

"Don'tcha take 'no' for an answer, Droopy-Eyes?" Jiron said as he made Xabungle enter a fighting stance. "Elche doesn't need someone who'd walk out on 'er for a husband!"

"You!" Kid exclaimed as the Promeus unsteadily got to its feet. "If Elche gave YOU Xabungle, then that must mean you're the main character! Fine then...I'll just smash you and then the Iron Gear, the Xabungle AND the role of main character will be all mine!" With that, the Promeus opened fire with the two main guns, which Xabungle easily dodged, counterattacking with a shot from its rifle. These opening attacks caused the other Walker Machines to start attacking each other as well.

"Sorry, pal - it's waaaaay too early for ya to even consider that!" Jiron taunted even as his shot was narrowly avoided. "I'll show you what the manly Xabungle can really do! Chiru, let's go!"

Xabungle tossed away its rifle as it started to emit a great deal of fumes and smoke from its grille-like mouth, caused by both of its pilots revving its engines. It charged at the Promeus with great speed, kicking up clouds of dust as it ran. Kid tried to fire its secondary turrets, but all of his shots kept missing.

"XABUNGLE...FULL POWAAAAAAH!"

With even more force than before, the blue Walker Machine punched Kid's mech, sending it skidding away. It then continued with a powerful kick, before finally leaping high, preparing to do a double-fisted smash. However, the Promeus was able to step backward in time, causing it to whiff the attack entirely.

"I have you now, Melonhead!" Kid called out, grinning wickedly.

"Melonhead?!" Jiron said angrily as steam came out of his ears; "You son of a..."

The Promeus fired its main guns at the cockpit of Xabungle, but it missed, thanks to Chiru's quick thinking. Instead, it only struck the wings on the back.

"Gah! The wings!" Jiron cried.

"I was aiming for the cockpit," Kid said, leering. "This time, I won't miss...and no plot armor's gonna save you!"

* * *

"Where did I end up, anyway?" the girl asked as she, Simon and Kamina crawled through the tunnel the younger digger had drilled. The Ganmen outside was randomly bashing the walls, simply reveling in causing destruction and mayhem.

"Jiha Village," Simon answered. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh...I'm Yoko; I'm from Littner Village, the pit next door to yours," the redhead answered.

"Wait, so you came from the surface, but you lived underground?" Kamina exclaimed.

"More or less," Yoko replied. "Is that a problem?"

"Geez, so that means you're a pit chick!" Kamina groaned, annoyed that she wasn't from the surface, and more importantly, that she slowed down even as they approached the end of the tunnel. "Move it, thunder thighs!"

"Where exactly are we going, anyway?" the girl asked, ignoring Kamina's insult as they climbed through a hole along a walkway.

"To the face!" Simon replied before crawling into yet another tunnel.

"The face?" Yoko then asked as she followed. "Wait, you mean you found a Ganmen?"

"What's a Ganmen?" Simon's big bro inquired.

"That thing is," she replied, noting the monstrous as they passed it while they were still somewhat hidden. She wanted to get a good shot at its power conduits, but the tunnel was too small to get into a sniping position.

After another few minutes of crawling, Simon stopped, having found the metal face from before. Unlike the Ganmen in the center of the village, this one was more like a human's. Quickly, the boy used his drill to expose the last bits of it, revealing a strange hatch. As the trio pondered what to do with it, the drill-pendant Simon was still wearing suddenly began to glow. In response, the mech's eyes began to flash, and the hatch opened. This revealed what seemed to be controls inside, consisting of a few screens, a pair of handles and a strange circular screen with a weird indentation with spiraled grooves in it.

"Hey, it started up!" he exclaimed. "Big bro, let's use it to take out the big face in the village!" Simon stepped out of the cockpit. "C'mon, get in!"

To his surprise, Kamina shook his head.

"No...you do it," he said rather calmly. "You're the one that found it - that makes it yours. Besides, it's reacting to YOUR pendant."

"But I..." Simon said meekly.

"The great Kamina never steals stuff from his blood brother!" the young man replied, resuming his usual boisterous manner.

"But I don't think I can do it..." the digger replied.

"Dumbass! Kick logic to the curb and make the impossible possible! That's how Team Gurren rolls, right?"

"But..."

"Listen, Simon," Kamina explained in an annoyed tone, so tired was he of Simon's self-denigration. "No more 'buts' outta you! If you're not gonna believe in yourself, then believe in me...the Kamina who believes in you!"

Realizing that his big bro wasn't going to budge on his decision, Simon sat down in the seat and squeezed the grips, causing the screen before him to start glowing, forming a picture of a green spiral galaxy.

He then looked at the drill-pendant around his neck. Figuring that he had nothing else to lose, he stuck it in, and turned it like starting a car's ignition. Instantly, the small machine sparked to life, shooting pale green flames from its nostrils as the green spiral galaxy was covered by a number of polygons arranged in a spiral formation, almost like a gauge. Small arms and legs sprouted from it. Suddenly, the canopy closed, trapping Kamina and the girl inside with him. Somehow, Kamina's new sword managed to fit as well.

_It's working...I can do this! _Simon thought, his confidence growing.

"Nice job with the canopy!" Kamina commented; "By the way, we're going to call it 'Lagann' from now on! You like that?"

_What is up with this guy?_ Yoko wondered as Simon nodded eagerly.

"Now, blow him away with your drill, Simon!" Kamina cheered. "The drill that's gonna pierce the heavens!"

_YEAH! _the digger thought, his expression now a wide, almost insane grin as spirals formed in his irises.

Reacting to Simon's ever-rising spirit, the machine let out a massive screech as a large drill sprouted from its forehead and arms. It then rocketed forward, drilling through the ground at incredibly speed.

"TAKE THIS, YOU BIG UGLY MONSTER!" Simon screamed as Lagann burst up from below the enemy Ganmen, drilling straight through it, and even further upward...

* * *

Just as Kid was about to deliver a finishing shot to Jiron, another rifle shot rang out, striking the Promeus from behind. Jiron and Chiru looked behind him - and saw another Xabungle standing there, its rifle barrel smoking.

"What the?! Another Xabungle?!" Kid exclaimed. "When did she get that second one?!"

"Same place I got the first - when Daddy bought it from the Innocent," Elche replied, a smirk on her face. "Weren't you paying attention?"

"Miss Elche?! When did you get so good with a Walker Machine?!" Jiron exclaimed, overjoyed to see his boss actually taking a stand.

"I may be a lady of manners, but I'm not afraid to play rough when it's required!" the young woman replied. "C'mon Jiron, let's teach this varmint a lesson!"

But before the beating could commence, the ground began to shake violently as the Ganmen from Jiha Village was blasted out of the hole it had formed, while Lagann had launched itself thousands of feet in the air.

"What in tarnation?!" Elche exclaimed as she stuck her head out the window, baffled at the sight that had suddenly appeared.

"Well, guess this is where I make my exit," Kid said to himself. "I'm not fool enough to challenge two Xabungles at once." With that, the red Walker Machine made a run for it, with four of the Breakers he had brought along following him - the rest were scrapped by the other Sandrats.

"Huh? Hey, Kid's getting away!" Jiron called out. But the captain of the Iron Gear stopped him.

"Let him go," she said. "This ain't gonna be your only chance to trounce 'em. We got bigger problems. Big, furry ones." Indeed, no less than six more Ganmen, each designed after some sort of animal, were tromping towards Lagann.

"Ganmen!" Chiru exclaimed. "Hey, check that little one out...it's got people in it!"

"Well I ain't just standin' around!" the pilot of the broken-winged Xabungle declared; "I'm gonna show those Beastmen not to mess with us humans!"

* * *

Lagann was scurrying about to avoid a green Ganmen with a fish head that was stomping around, gleefully trying to squash it and the trio inside.

"C'mon, Simon! What happened to that hot-blooded spirit of yours?!" Kamina cried, baffled as to why his little bro had suddenly turned wimpy again.

"Yeah! You were doing so well before!" Yoko added.

"I dunno! It was probably a fluke!" the digger exclaimed as he frantically tried. "It was all a big fluke!"

"Hold still, ya puny Undergrounder!" the Ganmen gurgled as it finally managed to catch up to Simon's tiny Ganmen.

"Gah! We're done fooooor!" Simon cried as their pursuer's foot started to come down on top of them. But luck was with him - Jiron's Xabungle suddenly rushed in from the side, smashing the enemy away. Simon opened the hatch to get a better look.

"Take cover somewhere!" Jiron called out. "We'll take care of these Beastmen for ya!"

"Holy moley! Is that a Ganmen too?!" the young man gasped, awe-struck by the blue titan that now towered over him.

"Nope! This is a Walker Machine," Jiron replied proudly; "The manly Xabungle!"

"Hey, you didn't have to butt in, ya know!" Kamina yelled up. But Yoko wasn't about to let this opportunity go to waste. She turned to Simon.

"Head that way! We can take shelter there!" she said, pointing towards a mesa out in the distance. The great column of rock had a single great crack in it, just barely wide enough for a full-size Ganmen to fit through.

Simon nodded and spurred Lagann on, making a mental note to thank the blue Walker Machine's pilot if both of them got out of this alive. Yoko, meanwhile, kept an eye on the rear, and saw the Sandrats and Elche all get in on the action, the latter pounding two Ganmen at once, as more of them began to gather.

"Yoko!" a man's voice called out. Yoko turned and saw a familiar person waving to her - a man with green-blue hair and a machine gun in a white shirt. As Lagann drew closer, they could make out numerous figures hiding behind the rocks.

"Dayakka? When did you get here?!" the girl exclaimed, both surprised and relieved to see some old faces.

"It's good to see you too!" Dayakka called back.

"Friends of yours?" Kamina asked. To Yoko's surprise, she saw four Gallops and a Dugger rising up from behind them.

"You finally got 'em fixed?!" The girl exclaimed happily; "That's great!"

"Yeah! Now we stand a real chance against the Ganmen!" Dayakka replied. "Speaking of which, here come some now."

Indeed, the fish headed Ganmen from before, along with two more like it, not to mention three with lizard heads, were approaching.

"Gunners, prepare to open fire!" the man called out; "Walker Machines, prepare Formation O!"

"Hold it, we've got another incoming," Yoko said, looking up through her rifle's sniper scope. "You two might wanna cover your ears." After a few tense seconds, the new Ganmen slammed into the ground with stupendous force, violently shaking the ground and creating an explosion of white energy.

The new Ganmen had a bright red, barrel-shaped body with a skeletal humanoid face on it. Its arms were long, almost gangly, while its legs were almost comically short compared to its body. Its eyes were mustard yellow and the rim around its mouth a sickly bluish-green. Four holes were in its back, likely some sort of booster system.

"That's a new one," Yoko said uneasily. "I dunno if we can take all these guys on. Those Beastmen must be getting serious about us now."

"Beastmen?" Kamina asked, having not heard the term until now.

"They're weird animal/human hybrids, based on the few we've seen outside their Ganmen. No one knows where they come from, or if they work for anyone. All we know is that they want us 'Undergrounders' dead."

Kamina simply grinned as he looked at the newly arrived Ganmen, which was haphazardly swinging two crude swords around as several Walker Machines peppered it with heavy machine gun fire.

"You know, I like the face on that one," he said; "I think I'm gonna take it for myself!"

"Say what?!" Yoko said, surprised that Kamina was even that crazy.

"You heard me - I'm gonna PILOT that thing!" the brash young man declared, pointing to it dramatically.

"Where this guy gets all his confidence, I have no idea," Yoko mumbled to no one in particular.

Meanwhile, Simon realized something as he gazed upon the new monstrosity.

"Those tremors...the cave-ins...they're the ones that caused them!" the boy said just under his breath, his heart filling with rage. In response, Lagann suddenly started to hum back to life, the spiral gauge filling up again. "Because of them...my mom and dad were..."

Simon let out a hot-blooded roar as Lagann's eyes flashed green and opened its mouth as well.

"Ah, there's that manly spirit!" Kamina said excitedly as Lagann stomped forward. "You're just in time too!"

"Big bro, it was them! They're the ones who caused those tremors, which ended up as earthquakes down below! They...they killed my mom and dad!"

"I see," Kamina replied before telling him his plan. "But you need to focus a bit for me, because I'm gonna hijack that Ganmen! I'll bet I can enter through its mouth, so I'll need you to force it open for me!"

Simon nodded, calming down a bit as he drew closer to their target.

"Piloting it should be easy, right?" Simon's big bro pondered out loud. "You could handle Lagann right away!"

"Yeah...as soon as I gripped the handles, the knowledge came flowing into me," the boy said.

"Then it should be the same for all Ganmen!" Kamina said confidently; "Those things seem to run on manly spirit, after all! Take us in!"

Lagann doubled its pace, but was suddenly blocked by the fish-headed Ganmen.

"Oh no, you don't!" it gurgled as it tried to punch Simon's mech. But the tiny Ganmen jumped in time, and used the enemy's own arm as a stepping stone of sorts, scurrying up to the face level of their target before bounding high into the air.

The fish Ganmen tried to punch Lagann again, but suddenly, a powerful rifle round struck its arm, causing it to instead strike the red Ganmen, knocking it down.

Yoko sighed as she looked up from taking the shot, wondering she had to save that moron again.

"Now, Simon!" Kamina cried. Lagann's hatch opened, and the young man bounded out, right upon landing, he quickly watched and waited for his blood brother to land. Even as the fish Ganmen tried to grab him, he stood firm. Thankfully for him, Simon landed just in time to stop the attack.

"YOU WON'T TOUCH MY BRO!" Simon screamed as a drill burst from Lagann's forehead and began to grow larger. He shoved the point into the enemy Ganmen's hand, quickly shredding it to pieces. With that, it then turned and forced open the hatch, revealing a furry humanoid creature with small eyes and large teeth.

"Get outta there, pal," Kamina said with a grin. "This ride's mine now." He grabbed the Beastman and heaved him out of the machine and onto the ground below, the hatch closing just in time to avoid getting struck by the lizard Ganmen.

But when Kamina tried to make it move, the cockpit's lighting turned red, its screens covered with symbols indicating that it wasn't going to budge for its new pilot. The sight of the Ganmen's eyes going dark broke Simon's spirit, causing Lagann to power down. Seeing this, the two remaining Ganmen quickly attacked it, sending it flying before turning their attention back to Simon.

And that was enough to break Kamina's spirit as well.

Unbeknownst to them, Jiron, Elche and the Sandrats had just witnessed Kamina's daring move, and were coming to back them up. As the latter four charged in to support Simon and Dayakka's troops, Jiron stayed to do what he could.

"Hey, you in there!" he called out, his voice somehow reaching Kamina from outside. "What the heck's slowing you down? Let's see some spirit!"

"Huh? Who said that?" he said despondently.

Suddenly, Kamina felt a jolt, and the red screens turned orange, revealing the broken-winged Xabungle standing over him.

"Are you gonna just lie there like a log?" Jiron yelled. "That kid who's been calling you 'big bro' is in a heap o' trouble! Don't ya think you oughta be helping him?"

Kamina chuckled.

_That's right...all this time, Simon's been the one bailing me out of trouble, and I haven't done a single thing in return._

"C'mon, get your tail in gear and show 'em the power of a man!" the Rockman called out, still not sure if he was getting to Kamina. But his question was soon answered when the Ganmen's eyes flashed on and its limbs began to move; meanwhile, the inside of the cockpit turned bright green as its pilot's fighting spirit was slowly rekindled. He looked up and saw two of the Ganmen standing over Lagann and preparing to squash it.

"Now you Beastmen bastards have asked for it," he growled. "Just who the hell do you think I AM?!"

With a burst of spirit, the red Ganmen suddenly rocketed forward, its feet outstretched.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM KIIIIIIICK!"

The attack landed with such force that sent the lizard Ganmen flying, though it shattered the legs of Kamina's new mech.

"HANDS OFF MY BELOVED LITTLE BROTHER PUUUUUUUUNCHIE!"

Kamina smashed the fish head Ganmen with a massive punch, sending it flying in the same direction, much to the awe of everyone else present. But this blow also shattered the very limb that delivered it.

"Wow, this guy's REALLY impressive!" Elche exclaimed as Jiron joined her, having finished off the other two lizard-headed ones. "What did you say to him?"

They watched as the red Ganmen picked up Lagann with its remaining hand.

"Simon! Sorry about that...I got held up a little."

"Big bro!" Simon said, overjoyed to see Kamina was okay.

"Come on, let's finish them off!" the pilot said eagerly as the Ganmen's hand suddenly gripped Lagann like a baseball; "You deal the finishing blow! Put some backbone into it, too!"

"Say whaaaaaat?" the digger cried.

"FINISHING STRIKE!" Kamina boomed as he prepared to throw the small Ganmen with all his might; "**PERFECTION COMBUSTION OF MANLY SOULS! CANNONBALL ATTAAAAAAACK!**"

"This is so messed uuuuuuuuup!" Simon cried as Kamina threw him. Inexplicably, Lagann did a quick flip as its legs changed into a large drill. As the two enemy Ganmen got to their feet, Lagann whizzed past them, drilling straight into the mesa.

"Ha-ha! You missed, ya stupid Undergrounder!" the fish head's pilot laughed, making taunting gestures along with its partner. "Neener-neener-neeeneeeeer!"

"Did we, now?" Kamina said with a cunning grin. Indeed, Lagann was burrowing through the dirt in a somewhat haphazard way.

"I guess it's up to me noooow!" Simon said loudly, more terrified of the ludicrous speed he was going than of the enemies. He gripped Lagann's controls and began to steer it in the other direction. It burst out the same side it came from, merely a few feet from the entrance hole.

The pilots of the two green Ganmen were too occupied with taunting Kamina that they didn't see Lagann burst through...and drill right through them, causing a spectacular explosion. The red Ganmen raised its arm and caught Lagann with ease as Dayakka's troops cheered wildly.

"That was a bit overkill," Dayakka quipped awkwardly.

"Yeah, but it definitely looked cool," Yoko replied.

"You falling for them, hun?" another voice, one belonging to an effeminate young man, came from near her. The young man had cyan hair, red earrings and purple eyeshadow.

"Huh? How long have you been standing there, Leeron?" Yoko exclaimed.

* * *

The battle was over, and sunset was approaching as the crew of the Iron Gear met with the people of Littner Village, who had been residing inside the mesa. Elche had the Sandrats distribute some of the Iron Gear's excess supplies to the people, as well as spare Walker Machine parts, which Leeron was eagerly examining.

"I see, that's quite a story," Cotset said thoughtfully after Yoko and Dayakka finished the story behind Littner's struggle against the Beastmen. "Who would have thought that there would be entire villages underground? The Innocent never mentioned anything like this."

"Innocent? Who are they?" Dayakka asked.

"They're people that live in domes in the area," the engineer explained; "They provide us Civilians with supplies and parts for our Walker Machines. In exchange, we agree to live by their laws."

"Well then we'll have to thank these Innocent if we ever meet them," Yoko replied politely. "They're very generous people if they're willing to share their plenty with you."

"However, I must remind you that Carrying Cargo is a business," Elche said. "And we require some form of payment for our goods."

"Oh, yes," Dayakka said with a sigh. "Well, we don't have any of those Blue Stones you're after."

"Well, we could use some more hired hands and bodyguards," the captain of the Iron Gear said, rubbing her chin. "How about you, your little mechanic friend over there and those two guys with the Ganmen...what were their names again?"

As if those words had summoned him, Kamina zipped over to where they were, holding Simon by the wrist.

"Did you call for us? We're the badass and invincible Team Gurren! And I am its manly leader, Kamina from Jiha Village!"

He raised the limp Simon a bit.

"And this is my little blood brother, Simon!" Kamina then said proudly; He's the main man behind the controls of the amazing Lagann!"

"Um...hi," Simon said meekly, wiggling his fingers in greeting. Boota poked his head out of a red and blue jacket that he had been given after the battle.

"He's kinda cute," Elche commented with a smile. Simon blushed heavily as Kamina put him down. "So, do we have a deal?"

"I-I guess so," Dayakka said. Yoko looked down a bit.

"It's okay, Yoko," the man said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder; "Now that we have the Walker Machines, we'll do just fine. And we can always hijack a Ganmen like Simon and Kamina did today. You don't need to worry about us."

"All right," the redhead replied. "I'll go get Leeron."

"I'll get Lagann on board," Simon said and hurried off to do just that.

"Well, mister Kamina," Elche said to Simon's big bro; "Welcome to your new home. Something tells me you're gonna fit in just fine in our little group..."

* * *

_Not quite as long as the last one, but hey, it's good enough for me. Next time, the two ships meet, and we do some more Xabungle plot, where we meet a certain black-hatted gunslinger for the first time, and maybe we'll even meet another set of foes..._


	5. Chapter 4

_Don't worry, folks. I promise I'll finish U. I'm way too close to just give up on it now! Anyway, in this chapter, the two ships meet! _

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Breaking The Innocent's Laws! Freeden and Iron Gear Unite! **

Leeron and Cotset had spent the past few days working on remodeling the Ganmen that Kamina had stolen, and now they were staring up at their finished project, their clothes splotched with oil. The former nodded proudly at his work, while the latter squinted, as if trying to make sense of the embellishments.

Its main body resembled its previous form, except it now had a pair of black triangular sunglasses over its eyes. Its broken limbs were replaced by the broken parts of the two minor Ganmen destroyed by the Cannonball Attack. Finally, the entire Ganmen was painted in a red, yellow and black color scheme. Of particular note were the insignias on its arms - it depicted a crude image of a flaming skull wearing a white pair of sunglasses that also resembled Kamina's own.

As they examined their work, Kamina strode in, curious to see how it had come out. He took but one look at his revamped machine before his eyes widened with glee.

"It's...perfect!" he said joyfully. " Those arms! Those legs! Those sunglasses! It's the perfect tribute to the manly spirit that Team Gurren embodies! Yep...my vision for Gurren was perfect, but it was YOU guys that gave it form! It's enough to..."

Kamina sniffled a bit as a single tear ran down his face.

"I'm sorry, just gimme a moment..."

"Well, that's done," Leeron said, sighing contentedly as Kamina reveled in the beauty of Gurren. "Time to go freshen up...gotta keep that skin nice and silky! Ta-ta, gentlemen!"

Cotset could only wonder how Elche could attract so many crazy people...

* * *

It was break time on the Iron Gear, and Simon was happily munching away on a large sandwich inthe Iron Gear's hangar. He had never had anything this good - even pigmole steaks were nothing compared to the mountain of bread, vegetables, cheese and meat that he had assembled for himself. After taking a bite, he paused and tore a piece off for Boota, who happily began to nibble away at it.

"Hey, who's that fella with ya, Simon?" Jiron's voice came from behind him. He looked over and saw Xabungle's pilot there, smiling in a friendly way as always.

"Oh, hey, Jiron," Simon said after he swallowed his bite of sandwich. "This is my friend, Boota."

"You've got a pet pig-mole?" he said, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "Aren't they raised to be...y'know, eaten? At least that's what I heard about you Undergrounders."

"Yeah, but Boota's different from other pig-moles," the digger explained; "He's really smart...he can even understand what we're saying. Isn't that right, buddy?"

"Mm-hm!" the pigmole said after swallowing his own bite of sandwich.

"He even comes into battle with me...so that makes him more than just a pet!" the blue-haired boy said with a wide, happy grin. "Hey, do YOU have any animal friends, Jiron?"

Jiron frowned. He knew this was going to come up sooner or later.

"I did back home," he said grimly as his expression grew darker; "But that was before HE came and took it all away from me!"

"He?" Simon said, wondering what kind of person would get Jiron so angry.

"A nasty character named Timp Sharon!" the Walker Machine pilot answered loudly; "He just waltzed in one day and shot up my mom and dad, then burnt my home to the ground! I'm not gonna rest until I've found him and gotten revenge!"

"You lost your family, too?" the boy said, his eyes downcast as he remembered his own parents' grisly fate. Boota stopped eating and hopped onto Simon's shoulder, licking him as if to comfort him.

"It's okay for me, though," Simon replied, his mood lifted a little; "I have Boota and my big bro Kamina with me. I hope we can be friends too."

Jiron smiled a bit, his own mood improved. Suddenly, alarm bells began ringing loudly.

"Uh-oh...the alarm!" he said, already getting into a combat mindset; "I better get to Xabungle! You should mosey on over to Lagann!"

"Right!" the digger said before scarfing down the rest of his sandwich in three bites. Boota opened his mouth wide and devoured his piece of sandwich with just a single bite.

"Man, that was good!" Simon said with a sigh of contentment. "Boota, let's go!" The pigmole nodded, and the pair hurried over to Lagann, ready to face whatever was coming their way.

* * *

Lagann, Gurren, both Xabungles and the two Gallops rushed outside to prepare for the incoming enemies. Jiron and Chiru piloted Xabungle 1, the unit with its wings intact, while Rag piloted Xabungle 2, the unit that had lost its wings.

Swooping in from above came a number of winged Kouma, screeching loudly as they landed.

"...Demons!" Elche exclaimed, her voice crackling. "Haven't seen these guys in a while!" Thanks to Leeron, the Iron Gear and the Walker Machines were outfitted with crude radio systems. This allowed them to keep in contact without having to yell over great distances.

"Demons?" Kamina said, scratching his head. "You mean those weird scaly things?"

"Yep - they're definitely demons," Rag said grimly. "They come in all sorts o' shapes and sizes, but they're all mean, vicious and hungry for people!"

"According to the Innocent's laws," Elche explained; "Any Civilian who can provide proof that they defeated one hundred demons will be granted entrance into their domes, and granted a single request!"

"Really?" Jiron exclaimed excitedly, already deciding what he would request of the Innocent; "Well, then let's get cracking!"

But before they could charge, a number of Steam Beasts appeared amidst the Kouma through black portals, followed by a large rabbit-like machine - one that belonged to a certain Kaijin, who popped out of his personal Steam Beast. While the Iron Gear's defenders has a size advantage, their opponents had sheer numbers on their side.

"UUUU-SA-SA-SA-SA-SAAAA!" the finely-dressed rabbit laughed. "Finally, I've found you, Civilians!"

"Is that a Beastman?" Simon asked Jiron.

"I dunno," Jiron replied. "But whatever he is, he's gonna go down reeeeal quick-like!"

"Their leader appears to be...some sort of rabbit," Cotset replied, peering through binoculars.

"Beastman?! RABBIT?!" Ciseaux cried angrily, somehow able to hear their voices. "I am of zee noble Kaijin! I am he who snips human happiness to tiny pieces! I am...le great Ciseaux! For your impertinence, I will snip you all to bits! Kouma! Steam Beasts! Chaaaaarge!"

With that, the Kouma and Steam Beasts charged at the Iron Gear's crew at full tilt.

"Ready the main cannon!" Elche ordered. "All units, prepare to meet the enemy!"

Kamina was the first to step to the Iron Gear's defense. He started by kicking a Kouma into a nearby hillside, then punching a second one with enough force to send it crashing into a nearby Steam Beast. Jiron and Chiru followed up by firing a few rifle rounds into the enemies, blasting the heads off of several. More were scattered by the landship's main guns, only to be picked off by the other Sandrats.

Meanwhile, Simon was doing his level best to face down the enemies. Lagann was small, but there was no reason he couldn't take out the monstrous creatures. As a Kouma lunged out at him with its claws, the digger made Lagann burrow underground with its drill.

"If my big bro can come up with a fancy attack name, so can I!"he thought as he pulled the handles on Lagann back, causing it to ascend rapidly. Boota nodded in agreement.

The tiny Ganmen rocketed out of the ground drill-first, piercing through the Kouma that had attacked him. As his ascent slowed, Simon looked down and saw a Steam Beast and two other Kouma directly under him. Lagann somersaulted a few times, then started to descend, its legs once again transformed into a drll.

"Eat this!" Simon cried. **"LAGANN...IMPACTOOOOO!"**

Lagann smashed into the ground with such force that the Steam Beast and Kouma were sent flying by the force of the impact.

"Awesome, Simon!" Kamina cheered. "That's the way ya do it!"

Simon rushed further into the fight, eager to make his big brother proud...

* * *

Unbeknownst to the Iron Gear and Ciseaux's forces, there was another group watching the battle. Standing on a plateau rising over the field was a band of Breakers, led by a distinct character - a thin man with a pronounced chin. He wore a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, a green cloth tied around his neck, and a simple outfit of black and dark blue coloration. He had a pair of revolvers holstered at his hips, and was looking through binoculars of his own.

"Hmmm," he said to no one in particular. "That's one of the Innocent's landships...looks like one of them new models...and never seen those two Ganmen before. Guess those Undergrounders finally managed to hijack some."

Just then, he witnessed Simon's Lagann Impact, and nearly lost his balance from the tremors cause by the impact.

"Whoa! That little one's miiiighty special," the man chuckled as he regained his footing. "I think I'll take it for myself. The Innocent'll definitely pay a ton for that!"

"Hey, boys!" the man called out to his cronies. "Get yer Walker Machines ready! We're gonna go raid that landship there while those morons are busy with the demons!"

"You got it, boss!" a few of them answered.

"Timp Sharon, you are one lucky son-of-a-gun," the man said to himself as he started toward his own Walker Machine.

* * *

Xabungle 1 managed to reach Ciseaux during the fracas, and Jiron wasted no time in getting on the rabbit's case. Unfortunately, Prelude's jumping abilities allowed it to deftly avoid the blue Walker Machine's blows.

"Cretins! As long as the great Ciseaux's eyes gleam rouge, I won't let you putrid humans do as you please!" Ciseaux declared. "You least of all, melonhead!"

"Oh yeah, well..." Jiron replied, still unsure of how to properly respond to that insult.

"Hey, rabbit!" Chiru yelled. "Yer mama was a hamster, and yer papa smelled of elderberries!" That was enough to make the Steam Beast stop hopping, which Jiron quickly took advantage of as he began winding up a mighty punch.

"What kind of insult was ZAT supposed to be?" the rabbit exclaimed, not realizing what was coming.

"One to distract you so I can do THIS!" the rockman replied; "DEADLY STRIKE! XABUNGLE PUUUUUUUUUNCHIE!"

Xabungle 1's fist struck Prelude dead on, sending it flying. The blow also caused it to start falling apart as it sailed into the distance, its pilot spewing all manner of French invective.

"Heh, I've always wanted to say that at least once!" Jiron quipped before turning to his co-pilot. "That was some amazing trash-talking, Chiru! Where'd you come up with that one?"

"Dunno," the little girl replied before noticing more incoming enemies - more Walker Machines. However, one of them caught Jiron's attention in particular: it was a black humanoid machine like the Promeus, but it had a distinctly spherical head, and limbs with cables running along them.

"A black Government-type Walker Machine..." Jiron gasped, remembering it from before. His momentary surprise then turned into unbridled fury when he remembered just who was piloting the dark-colored mech and roared out that name at the top of his lungs.

"TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMP!"

Without any regard for the remaining foes, Jiron turned Xabungle toward Timp's Walker Machine and charged toward it at full throttle, the blue machine's exhaust vent belching out copious amounts of steam.

"That's...him?" Simon exclaimed when he saw Xabungle 1 heading toward the enemy Breakers. "Do you think we should help him out, Boota?" To his surprise, the tiny pigmole shook his head.

"Whoever that man is, Simon," Kamina said as Gurren stopped next to Lagann, "Only Jiron has the right to defeat him. But we can still take care of those grunts! No one's touching the Iron Gear while Team Gurren's around! Come on!"

Simon sighed and followed behind his big brother, feeling rather uneasy about fighting enemies he knew to be fellow humans. The other Sandrats followed as well, while the Iron Gear adjusted its firing angle.

Meanwhile, Jiron got within range of Timp's machine and started firing Xabungle 1's rifle repeatedly. His shots, however, seemed to fly past the black Walker Machine entirely.

"Well, well, if it ain't...um...whatever yer name is, melonhead," Timp commented, unfazed by the berserk Jiron's charge.

"IT'S AMOS!" the rockman screamed as Xabungle rushed in for an all-out attack; "JIRON AMOS!"

"Oh yeah!" the gunslinger replied with a laugh as the Government stepped back, causing Xabungle to trip over itself. "Say, hasn't it been a week since I offed your folks?"

"...Youuuuu!" Jiron roared as he fired Xabungle's rifle several more times from its prone position, each shot also missing wildly. But Chiru gasped and blinked several times, as if Jiron had just uttered something completely insane.

But when Timp counterattacked with a punch of his own, Chiru turned her attention to the battle once more...

* * *

The _Freeden _whizzed across the desert landscape at a respectable clip, even in spite of its mechanical problems. Suddenly, it slowed down as the navigator noted the fighting between the two groups of Breakers out in the distance.

"Captain...something's going on over there," he said, surveying the visuals carefully. "It looks like a feud between scrappers."

"It's best if we don't get involved," the woman with brown hair suggested. "We're too low on supplies to get involved in another fight."

"But that's a merchant landship, Tyrell," Jamil replied, shaking his head and pointing out the Iron Gear on the screen; "And as you said; the bazaar is nearby. If the fighting spreads, we won't be able to safely get supplies...especially medical ones for Tiffa."

"Not to mention that innocent people could get caught in the middle!" Toniya added. "At the very least, we should try to stop the fighting! C'mon, Sara!"

"We're doing whatever the captain orders," Sara replied. "So, what will we do, Captain?"

"Crew...to your battle stations," Jamil ordered without a moment of hesitation. "Get the Airmaster, Leopard and Masakados ready, and tell their pilots to stand by for deployment. We're going to protect the merchant landship."

_You and that Garrod boy, _she thought; _You and he are more like than you realize. I guess that's why I..._

"First Officer Tyrell!" the _Freeden_'s captain said loudly. "Get to your station!

"Sorry, sir," Sara said with a sigh as she took her position, ready for the _Freeden_'s imminent engagement with the enemy.

* * *

The battle wasn't going the Iron Gear's way. With Jiron too occupied with Timp to defend the ship, it was up to the two Ganmen and the other Walker Machines to deal with the substantial number of Breakers, roughly two dozen, heading straight for them...and they were quickly being overrun.

"Yoko, think you can snipe these goons from up here?" Elche asked the red-headed sniper, who was standing on the bridge with her. "They're too close to use the main cannon on."

"Sure, I guess," Yoko replied before picking up her rifle and approaching the window to take aim. It was one thing to shoot at Beastmen...but she had never fired on a fellow human before, even in anger. Already she could feel her stomach knotting up.

"Incoming!" Cotset suddenly cried out as he spied something coming over the ridge through his binoculars, which stopped Yoko from firing.

"MORE enemies?" Elche asked with a hint of frustration in her voice. "This'll be the third group in the past hour!"

"It's another landship...but, it's nothing I've ever seen!" the engineer replied. "Could the Innocent have already created a new model?"

It turned out that it was the _Freeden_, coming to help out. As he continued to watch the new landship draw closer, he saw the Gundam Airmaster, Gundam Leopard and Masakados launch and head straight toward the enemy Walker Machines.

"Hey, it's launch'n some Walker Machines," he exclaimed; "And one of 'em's flying!" To his delight, the Gundam Leopard fired a wave of missiles at the enemy Walker Machines, blowing up a few of them and causing the others to stop and prepare to meet them in combat. Elche saw this as well and turned to Yoko.

"Hold your fire, Yoko," she ordered, raising her hand to stop the sniper, who was already in position to take a shot. "Looks like these new guys are on our side."

Yoko sighed with relief.

* * *

Kamina and Simon found themselves surrounded by a dozen or so Walker Machines. The latter couldn't help but tremble with fright, while the former simply stood in a guarding stance, ready to take anything they could shoot at him.

"Chin up, Simon! We'll get out of this somehow!" Kamina reassured him while maintaining his bravado. "Team Gurren never gives up!"

As one of the enemy Walker Machines, a Dugger, took aim at Lagann, it was suddenly slashed in two, though its pilot narrowly escaped the same fate, its ejected seat landing nearby. The pilot scurried off into the desert, screaming for mercy.

Simon looked up and saw the Masakados there, swinging its blades with grace and precision while the other Walkers struggled to attack and damage it. His spirit quickly rose, charging Lagann with energy once more.

"Thanks, whoever you are!" Simon said gratefully before spurring Lagann forward and out of the enemy swarm. "Big bro, now's our chance!"

"Right! I'll smash this lot with my own blade!" Kamina said as Gurren grabbed the sunglasses on its chest and began to pull on it. Amazingly, the oversized eyewear came off without any damage to the Ganmen. Wielding the glasses like a sword, Kamina rushed at the enemies who were swarming Tara and leaped high.

"Take this! **MANLY FURY...BURNING SLAAAAAAAAASH!**"

With one spectacular diagonal slash, Kamina sliced six of them in half, several of them inexplicably detonating right in Tara's face. Thankfully, the explosion of a few gasoline engines wasn't enough to severely damage Masakados, though it certainly sent the samurai mech for a loop.

"Hey, you moron! You almost got ME with that!" Tara yelled angrily. "If I wasn't trying to save your ass, I'd be kicking it right now!"

"Whoa, easy there pretty lady!" Kamina said when he realized that the pilot of the Masakados was a woman; "If ya can't handle this manly heat, get outta the firepit!"

* * *

As Timp continued its brawl with Xabungle, the gunslinger saw the new landship and its machines heading his way. He also noticed that most of his flunkies had been taken down. If any time was a good time to split, it was probably a little while ago.

"Sorry to hit n' run, Melonhead," Timp said as the Government started to back off; "But I'm gonna cut my losses fer today. See ya 'round, pardner!"

"Get back here, ya murderer!" Jiron cried as he hurried after Timp, only for Xabungle 1 to trip on a boulder.

The rockman slammed his fist on Xabungle's dashboard, gritting his teeth in the frustration of letting the man who destroyed his family get away.

"Damn it, Timp Sharon!" he yelled; "Next time we meet, I swear I'll..."

"Wow, I can't believe you're chasing that guy after a whole week!" Chiru suddenly chimed in, almost laughing before contacting her fellow Sandrats. "Hey guys, you're not gonna believe this! Jiron's been chasing his folks' killer for a WEEK now!"

"A whole week?!" Rag exclaimed, genuinely shocked at this revelation; "Did ya get dropped on yer head as a baby or somethin', ya melonhead?!"

"I can't believe we got ourselves into this mess because of a week-old crime!" Birume groaned. "C'mon, just get back to the Iron Gear, you lunatic!" Jiron, sighing in defeat, turned Xabungle back toward the Iron Gear.

* * *

The sun was starting to set as the crews of the _Freeden _and Iron Gear met in a space between the two ships as the two captains prepared to engage in the proper pleasantries. Tara, Roybea and Witz stood next to Jamil and his crew, while Cotset, Simon, Kamina, Yoko and the Sandrats stood next to Elche. Only Jiron was missing. Next to each ship, the mechs that belonged to each stood silently, their metal plating glimmering in the red light.

"Thanks for helping us out back there," Elche said gratefully. "Especially since we're complete strangers and all. I'm Elche Cargo, head of the Carrying Cargo transport company and captain of the Iron Gear."

"And these are my guards and crew," she continued, gesturing to Cotset and the Sandrats. "They're no slouches when it comes to fighting, in spite of appearances."

"The name's Jamil Neate, captain of the _Freeden,_" the sunglasses-sporting captain answered politely;"We were just around, and saw that you needed help. Loy and Sou here are just hired guns, so it's unlikely they'll be sticking around long. That means the Masakados here is the ship's only resident mobile weapon at the moment. It's piloted by this lady here."

"Tara Amakuni, pilot of the Masakados," Tara said, trying her best to be polite; "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Cargo."

Elche noted the way Tara seemed to carry herself. Though even Tara herself couldn't tell, the purple-haired girl seemed to have a manner about her that was more dignified than any scrapper.

"Say, where do you come from, Miss Amakuni?" Elche asked. "You don't seem like a scrapper to me."

"Oh...I-I'm from Tokyo," Tara replied, taken off guard by the odd question. "It's a domed city on the islands of Japan, a few hundred kilometers southeast of here."

"Wait...so you..." Elche gasped as her eyes suddenly lit up with an intensity that even Cotset had never seen before. "Omigawsh, you must be one of the Innocent!" The green-haired girl clutched her hands together and jogged in place with excitement.

"Oh gosh, I...I had no idea...oh, you don't know how lucky you are!" she finally said, her voice exploding with excitement; "You have access to so much...CULTURE!"

"Um...okay?" Tara said, taken aback by Elche's drastic change in behavior. Cotset and the Sandrats could only shake their heads in shame at having such an eccentric boss.

"I've been trying to bring some culture and manners to this wild part of the world," Elche ranted; "And with a member of the Innocent like you around, it'll get so much easier! I..."

"There she goes again," Jiron's said, as he suddenly approached from nearby. "Culture this, and manners that."

"Jiron!" the Iron Gear's captain exclaimed indignantly ; "It's rude to butt in on other people's conversations! At the very least, show some manners and introduce yourself!"

"Jiron Amos' the name," the young man said with a sigh; "I'm the Iron Gear's Rockman and Elche's main bodyguard. Nice to meet y'all."

"How'd you all end up together anyway?" Roybea asked. "It sounds like you lot haven't been together for very long."

"Well," Jiron began; "About a week ago that Timp character went and killed my parents..."

"Wait...a week?!" Elche exclaimed, her expression a mix of shock and amusement. "The man in the black Walker Machine? You've been after him for a WEEK?!"

"You're way over the time limit, boy," Cotset said grimly. "Don't ya know that the Innocents' laws states that any crime is automatically forgiven after three days if the perpetrator ain't brought to justice by then?! Every Civilian and their little brother knows that rule!"

But this was news for the _Freeden_'s crew, as well as for the Undergrounders. This three-day rule was especially appalling to Tara, who was still getting used to the cruel realities of the world outside the domes.

"Yeah...if it wasn't for that," Birume added; "We'd have killed each other off a long time ago!" Much to the Iron Gear crew's surprise, Tara began shaking her head in sheer disbelief.

"You can't be serious...you can NOT be serious!" she exclaimed.

"What's your problem?" Rag quipped. "You're from a dome, right? That means your people are the ones who came up with it!"

"Anyway, moooooving on," Cotset said before Tara could lash out. "You four...why don't you introduce yourselves?"

"Hoy!" Kamina boasted as Simon and Leeron stood on either side of him while Yoko simply stood behind them; "We're the badass and invincible Team Gurren! And I am its manly leader, Kamina from Jiha Village!"

"Geez, did someone order a ham-and-cheese sandwich around here?" Witz muttered under his breath. Roybea just snickered quietly.

"And this is my little blood brother, Simon!" Kamina continued, rubbing Simon's head. "He's the main man behind the controls of the amazing Lagann!"

"Um...hi," Simon said awkwardly, blushing in the presence of so many pretty women.

"He's kinda cute," Toniya whispered to Sara. Yoko stepped forward, hefting her gun over her shoulder, her breasts shaking a bit as she did so.

"I'm Yoko, from Littner Village," she said before turning toward where Leeron was; "And this guy..."

They looked over and saw the young man eagerly examining the two Gundams and the Masakados.

"Oh my, look at these adoooorable mechas!" he swooned as he rubbed and groped the Gundam Leopard; "Oh, I just got STRIP 'em and see what makes 'em TICK!"

"...Is Leeron," Yoko sighed as Jaan appeared behind him, yelling at him for getting too close to the Masakados; "I know he seems weird, but he's really smart and good with technology."

They watched Leeron suddenly start to flirt with Jaan. The young scientist began to retreat, unnerved by the Undergrounder's approaches. Once Jaan had gotten far enough away, Leeron returned to rubbing and groping the _Freeden_'s mobile weapons.

"Well, they say never to judge a book by its cover," Witz sighed.

* * *

The headquarters of the Alternative Company was in utter chaos. As a dozen Daughtress mobile suits struggled to fight it, a wicked red Gundam with wings and long claws tore through the heavily defended area, crushing everything in its path. Watching the madness from a safe building was a fat gentleman in his late fifties with a well-trimmed mustache, thin glasses and a finely-tailored suit.

The pilot of the Gundam set its sights on a lone Daughtress caught out in the open. With great speed, it closed the distance between them before cutting it down with a single beam saber slash.

"Is there a Von Alternative here?" its pilot's voice suddenly spoke from inside. Two more Daughtresses rushed at the red Gundam, but it took to the air and grabbed one of its foes' heads, and slashing at the other with his beam saber.

But this time, the pilot didn't crush or slice either of his victims.

"I said, is there a Von Alternative here?" the pilot asked.

"What is it that you want?!" the fat man demanded. He was the Von Alternative, the head of Alternative Company, that this intruder was seeking.

"My name is Shagia Frost, freelance mobile suit pilot," the pilot of the red Gundam replied in a cordial manner; "And I would like for you to hire me..."

* * *

Chirico Cuvie - once an elite Special Forces soldier for the Gilgamesh Confederation - was now a fugitive from the military he had served...and all he had done, as far as he could tell, was ask too many questions.

For someone like him, there was no one he could trust anymore. Anyone could be a spy or an assassin sent to hunt him down. The Gilgamesh soldier figured it would be best if he avoided any unnecessary contact with people. Of course, that wasn't going to be difficult - he wasn't a people person.

But it was a person that was now plaguing Chirico's weary mind the most - who was that woman in the capsule he stumbled into that day? Why did the military want her? And why did they not believe that he had no idea where she was?

The soldier laid down underneath the shade of a great tree, one large enough to shelter even the Scopedog AT he had managed to hijack from the Gilgamesh base that day, to rest. Even as he relaxed, the blue-haired man kept a gun close at hand.

The trees here, he surmised, were the survivors of a colony drop from the war twenty-five years ago, based on the ruins surrounding the woods. How plants could have survived the drop was beyond him.

Maybe they just had his insane luck.

In spite of his better judgment, the soldier's weariness finally got the best of him, and he closed his eyes and went to sleep...

* * *

_Next time, we continue with the Gundam X plot and bring VOTOMs into the picture! I'm kind of excited to see how I'll manage to fit the story of Chirico Cuvie into this fic, especially with the four series used thus far being rather light-hearted..._


	6. Chapter 5

_Next up, it's time for more Gundam X plot, and the introduction of a certain duo of brothers. Plus, we learn a little more about what happened during the war that laid waste to humanity..._

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Enter the Frost Brothers! Masakados' Power Awakens!**

"You want to travel together?" Cotset exclaimed when he heard Jamil's proposal after being presented with crude, but working radios for the bridge and the Walker Machines.

"Why shouldn't we? Both of our ships are rather under-manned as it is," the shades-sporting captain replied; "Together, we'll stand a greater chance of dealing with anyone who may attack us. Besides, didn't you say you wanted to see more culture, Captain Cargo?"

"You got that right!" Elche said eagerly, hopping up and down excitedly. "Besides, I'm tired of this confounded desert! A change o' scenery would be just the ticket, I'd say!"

"But your father's business..." Cotset protested, only to get a glare from Elche, which cowed him into silence once more.

"It seems we're in agreement then," Jamil said with a nod. "Make your forces ready to depart. Though if any of them want to stay on the _Freeden _for a little while, they're perfectly welcome."

* * *

As it turned out, two of the Iron Gear's crew did decide to hang out on the _Freeden_ - Simon and Yoko. The two wandered about the landship, marveling at how even more advanced it was than the Iron Gear. But as they passed a particular door, Yoko's breasts began to inexplicably jiggle.

"Huh?"

After a moment, Boota poked his head out - he had found the young woman's bosom to make a delightful napping spot. But something had caught his attention - and that something coming from behind the door.

Simon gently turned the door latch and opened the door, just poking his head in. The room was dark, save for a desk, chair, a bed, and a small table with a thin vase full of flowers. There was someone sitting at the desk reading a book - a blond man with turquoise eyes, glasses and a doctor's coat.

"Oh - visitors from the Iron Gear," the doctor said, speaking in hushed tones. "I would ask you to keep your voices down...Tiffa is sleeping in here."

Simon and Yoko quietly approached the unconscious girl.

"Heh - y'know, she's kinda cute..." the young digger said as he blushed a bit. Suddenly, Boota jumped out of Yoko's cleavage and started walking around on the bed and on Tiffa, as if trying to find a way underneath her sheets.

"Boota, what are you doing?" Simon exclaimed, still trying to keep his voice down. "You wanna wake her up?!"

As the pigmole continued crawling all over Tiffa, the girl began to smile, and even giggle a little. Yet her eyes remained closed.

"Aw, she's ticklish!" Yoko commented. Eventually, Boota found a suitable entrance and poked his head in. But he was only under there for a second before popping back out, scuttling back towards Yoko and then diving headfirst into her cleavage, mesmerizing both Simon and the doctor for a moment.

"Well," the doctor said after regaining his composure; "I suppose that's an encouraging sign for her recovery. Indeed, you're the first to have even gotten to smile and laugh like that. The captain will be pleased."

"That's great!" Yoko cheered, thankful they had chosen not to dwell on her womanly assets. "I bet that Garrod guy's gonna be happy too!"

* * *

Jaan worked in the _Freeden_'s hangar, doing some fine-tuning on Masakados while the two ships had stopped to pump some more water. Suddenly, he heard the voice of someone clearing their throat behind him. When he turn around, he saw a 12-year-old boy with an orange cap worn backwards, sky blue eyes and a mechanic's outfit, splattered with machine oil stains.

"Hey, buddy. Those are MY tools you're using," the boy said, leering at him. Jaan looked at the boy in a bewildered manner. "Don't ya know you should at least ask permission first?"

"What's with that stupid look?" the boy asked, annoyed that he was being doubted by an adult; "This is where I work!"

"You're...joking, right?" Jaan said, raising a single eyebrow in suspicion.

"No way! I'm the Freeden's chief mechanic, Kid Salsamille!" the boy replied, puffing out his chest and pointing at himself with his thumb before looking over at a fat man with glasses and thin man with a long face; "Ain't that right, guys?"

"Kid doesn't look it, but he's a genius when it comes to mechanical stuff," the thin man said; "I'm Nine, and this big guy here is Rococo."

"Now, ask me for permission!" the kid said, leaning down at the scientist. Jaan rolled his eyes.

"...Chief Mechanic Salsamille, may I have permission to use your tools to do work on the Masakados?" Kid grinned and nodded.

"Okay!" the mechanic replied. "I was just pulling your leg, anyway." He pulled up a nearby stool and sat as he watched Jaan continue to work on the Masakados' ankle joint.

"I was just on the Iron Gear," Kid suddenly said after watching him for a few seconds; "And I decided to compared notes with Cotset and Leeron."

"Mhm," Jaan said, focused more on his work than on Kid; "That's nice."

"I gotta say," the boy continued; "That Leeron fella's a reeeeeal weirdo."

"Indeed he is," the scientist replied, shuddering as he remembered Leeron's rather disconcerting approaches on him.

"Well, according to him," Kid said, smiling as if suppressing a giggle. "Gurren and Lagann are powered by their pilots' fighting spirit! Ain't that a hoot?"

"Actually, that's not too farfetched," Jaan replied in a sincere manner.

"Say what?" the young mechanic exclaimed. "Now you're pulling MY leg!"

"There are groups of warriors called Hanugami that protect the domed cities," the Masakados' mechanic explained; "They ride in small, steam-driven mobile weapons called Kohbu. The Kohbu are powered by an energy known as 'pneuma', which seems to fueled directly by the pilot's spiritual power. Of course, that means only individuals with naturally high levels of this 'pneuma' can pilot them."

"I see," Kid said, rubbing his chin and nodding thoughtfully; "Yeah, I think I get it now."

"You do?" Jaan exclaimed, turning around.

"Yeah!" the young mechanic said; "You domers...are completely screwy." Jaan simply grumbled just under his breath and resumed his work.

* * *

The _Freeden _chugged slowly across the landscape in order to allow the Iron Gear to keep up. Suddenly, Sara heard and saw explosions and gunfire coming from a fair distance away.

"Captain! There's enemy fire coming from over there!" she called out.

"Have they discovered us so soon?" Jamil exclaimed. "Mori, report!"

"Negative. It looks like...Gilgamesh Armored Troopers accompanied by another landship!" the navigator, Shingo Mori, replied; "They're chasing after a mobile armor!"

Indeed, a dark purple and red mobile armor with a single eye and a pair of scissor claws jetted back and forth as it dodged a large number of green mobile weapons that stood no more than twelve or so feet tall...Scopedogs.

"AT's?! All the way out here?" Toniya exclaimed. "That's not good at all. Of course, they could be scrappers that decided to use ATs instead of mobile suits."

"No...their maneuvering is too well-coordinated for them to be ordinary scrappers," Jamil said, noting the footage. "Not to mention that landship is an LS-9900." After a few moments, another six appeared on the camera, heading straight for them.

"They've split up!" Shingo called out. "One group is headed this way!"

"Great, now the Gilgamesh Confederation is on our asses?!" Toniya groaned.

"Sara, have Roybea and Witz sortie" the _Freeden_'s captain ordered as he stood up; "Toniya, warn the Iron Gear to prepare for enemy attack, and tell Kamina to pick up Lagann for Simon!"

"What about Tara?" Sara asked.

"She's still too inexperienced and softhearted," Jamil replied grimly. "Even with that advanced mobile weapon of hers, she'd be no match for a squadron of Gilgamesh professionals."

"And you trust the Iron Gear's troops are more experienced?" the woman asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"I just don't want to make that girl fight against humans if I don't have to," the captain answered as he sat back down. "I doubt he would forgive me."

* * *

The pilot of the mobile armor, a young man with slicked-back hair, lilac-colored eyes and a blue and white jacket, dodged and weaved as the Scopedogs tried to shoot him down. Though his machine had the ability to fly, he needed to stay low for his own reasons.

_Damn it, _he thought; _I wasn't expecting the Gilgamesh Confederation here!_

A moment later, he spotted the Gurren charging in, holding its sunglasses as if ready to throw them.

"Hoy, hoy, HOY! Stop right where you are, pipsqueaks!" Kamina cried as he prepared to toss the bladed shades, only to be spun around by the sheer speed of the mobile armor. Roybea and Witz then sped by and opened fire on the Armored Troopers.

The mobile armor pilot smirked as he saw the _Freeden _coming in with the Leopard and Airmaster just in front of them.

"There it is," the pilot said to himself. "The captured princess awaits me inside. Time for me to begin the gambit."

He intentionally moved his controls in a manner that caused his mobile armor to flip over and crash into the ground as the two Xabungles came rushing in, with the Iron Gear close at hand. Xabungle 1 managed to catch the mobile armor and stop its skid before it took too much damage.

"Hey, Rag!" Jiron called out. "Get this mobile armor to safety while the rest of us deal with these with these rolling Walker Machines!"

Rag nodded, though somewhat disappointed that she wasn't going to get to fight, had Xabungle 2 grab the mobile armor to flip it right side up. She then started dragging it by its rear end towards the _Freeden _and Iron Gear_, _which had stopped and were preparing to provide supporting fire.

Lagann came tromping by just in time to intercept a Scopedog that had zoomed ahead, knocking it down with a headbutt attack. Rag grinned and fired a shot from her Xabungle's rifle, blasting the Armored Trooper to bits. Meanwhile, Gurren's sunglasses managed to cut two more in twain, causing them to explode. Finally, a hail of suppressing fire from the Gallops allowed Jiron's Xabungle to charge in and wallop another three. Roybea and Witz destroyed the last three with a hail of beam fire and bullets.

The mobile armor pilot watched the action from his monitors, and chuckled as he closed his eyes.

_Everything is going exactly as we planned it, big brother, _the young man thought, as if speaking to someone with telepathy.

_Very good, Olba, _a voice resounded in his mind, one speaking to him via the same telepathy; _When you've secured the princess, give the word._

* * *

With the Scopedogs scrapped, several of the crew of the _Freeden _and Iron Gear all gathered around to meet the mobile armor pilot they had saved. Meanwhile, some of the Sandrats were working on moving Olba's machine onto the _Freeden_.

"Thank you for saving me back there," Olba said, expertly faking gratitude. "I almost died because of a malfunction in my control system. If there's anything I can do to repay you, let me know."

"Hey, why not work for us?" Sara suggested almost immediately. Jamil nodded in agreement.

"Yes...managing to hold off a whole squadron of professional Gilgamesh ATs on your own takes no small amount of skill," he added. "You'd make a great addition to the team."

"Please," the mobile armor pilot replied humbly, again saying exactly what the _Freeden _crew would expect him to say; "Just let me use your facilities to fix my vehicle and then I'll be on my way..."

"No, we insist," Elche said, eager to have another person on board; "We could use all the firepower we can get."

"Yeah, it'll be nice to have someone intelligent in our group," Toniya quipped, glancing over at the pilot of the Gundam Airmaster; "Unlike someone I know."

"Hey!" Witz exclaimed.

"You're too kind," Olba replied with a smile. Meanwhile, Kamina and Jiron stood away from the group, eying the newcomer suspiciously.

"Something about that guy bugs me," the pilot of the Gurren whispered. Jiron nodded.

"I hear ya...he's up to something," the rockman replied. Kamina strode up to the mobile armor pilot and got straight in his face.

"Hey, pal. What's your name?" he said, leering at Olba.

"My name?" the mobile armor pilot replied, not quite expecting anyone to be suspicious of him so quickly; "It's Olba...Olba Frost." Kamina took a step back and puffed out his chest as he grabbed the sword on his hips.

"Well, Old-bag, don't try anything funny, or you'll have to answer to THIS!" the Gurren's pilot said menacingly as he drew his nodachi from its sheath and held part of it to Olba's throat.

"That was uncalled for, Kamina!" Elche said indignantly, getting between them; "I'll not have anyone threatening newcomers!"

While all this was going on, no one noticed a young man climbing down one of the pipes on the _Freeden _and rushing in the direction of the woods...

* * *

Garrod couldn't believe that he had actually gotten out. Even in the middle of a pitched battle, one would think they'd leave someone to guard him. But with the greatest of ease, he had unlocked the door to his holding cell (thanks to a spare lockpick he kept hidden in his sleeves) and shimmied out a side door, and he was off into the woods.

Of course, he had no plans of actually leaving the Vultures for good. After all, Tiffa was with them, and he couldn't abandon her now...not when he had found a greater purpose to his existence.

As he wandered around, looking for some suitable flowers, he stumbled upon a damaged Armored Trooper - a Scopedog. Nearby were the embers of a smoldering campfire.

_Sweet, a Scopedog! Maybe this thing has some spare parts we can sell! It might even still work!_

However, he didn't realize that it was not only still functional, but occupied. As he climbed up to the mech's head, Garrod quickly found himself facing down the barrel of a very large pistol...which was being held by Chirico Cuvie.

"This is a Bahauzer M571 Armor Magnum," the AT pilot said stoically. "It's designed to pierce armor on tanks, aircraft, and even the joints of mobile weapons."

"Whoa, hey, easy there!" Garrod exclaimed as he stepped back in fright, only to lose his footing and slide down the mech, landing on some soft grass. Chirico, meanwhile, got out of his machine and approached the boy, aiming the gun at the boy's forehead.

"Talk," he said, his stoic tone unchanged. "Or I shoot."

"Look, I didn't mean to bother ya!" Garrod said frantically. "I-I'm just picking some flowers...f-for a friend!"

Chirico started to squeeze the trigger.

"C'mon, it's the truth!" Garrod cried, cowering in fear. "I had no idea you were here! I don't even know who you are!"

Something in Chirico's conscience made him release the trigger and lower the gun. He remembered the agonizing days of electroshock torture he had gone through since the incident, all because they didn't believe that he truly had no idea where the "prototype" was. If he fired on this boy, he'd be the same as the men who tortured him.

"All right," he said. "Now go away, and just pretend we never met."

"Gotcha!" Garrod said with a wide but nervous grin. "No problemo! Let me just get these flowers, and then I'm OUTTA here!" He quickly grabbed a half-dozen red flowers from the spot where he had landed and scurried off, while Chirico turned his mind to where he would head to next.

Just then, he remembered something - he had gotten a written message from someone in the domed town of Woodo, which he had recently fled. Until now, he had never opened it, let alone read it. Figuring that he had nothing better to do except watch for enemies, he climbed back into the damaged Scopedog and found the message. Using his survival knife to open it, he then unfolded it as quietly as possible and began to silently read it:

_Chirico:_

_Me and the boys are getting together for one last mission...we're gonna take care of that dirty rat Pailsen once and for all. If you're still alive and up for it, come to these coordinates:_

_80.08135, 71.75 _

_Destroy this message once you memorize the coordinates. If you're a Red Shoulder survivor like I know you are, you can't have THEM following you._

_G.G._

Chirico shook his head.

_You never change, do you, Galosh? _he thought as he committed the code to memory, noting that it wasn't all that far. He then crumpled the paper and tossed into the smoldering embers, causing the campfire to ignite once more...

* * *

As quiet as a mouse, Olba Frost snuck into the room where Tiffa was sleeping. The doctor watching her was out, but had left the door unlocked, figuring no one would disturb her. He paused by her bedside, and stuck a short cylindrical vial of a white liquid into an injection gun.

"So this is the captive princess I've been sent to retrieve," the mobile armor pilot mused quietly as he gazed down at Tiffa. "Oh, I think I could just...love her to death."

He held the injection gun to the girl's neck and pressed the trigger, injecting some sort of drug into her just as her eyes started to flutter as if to open. Tiffa only got one quick look at Olba before passing out again. The pilot picked her up and gently cradled her in his arms.

_Brother...your knight has taken the princess. Ready the pawns and rooks._

* * *

Garrod hurried as fast as he could back to the _Freeden_, hoping he wouldn't be caught. Unfortunately, he didn't even get within a hundred yards from it before he ran into Jamil, who was leering at him from behind his sunglasses.

"Garrod."

"Whoa!" the young scrapper exclaimed, surprised to see the captain here; "Uh...hey, Jamil." While he braced himself for a tongue-lashing and/or a beating for escaping, Jamil asked him an unexpected question.

"...Why did you come back? You could have fled."

Garrod fumbled for the words to answer this armor-piercing question, but soon found them, and stood up a little taller.

"Because...because I'm not leaving Tiffa alone!" he declared. Jamil shook his head at the boy's apparent ignorance.

"There's nothing you can do to relieve her suffering," the landship captain replied bluntly. "You can't even begin to comprehend the extent of it."

"Maybe I don't fully understand what she's going through, but I do know this - a lot of bad people are chasing her because of her powers - powers that she never asked for!"

Garrod then began to walk defiantly passed Jamil.

"Where are you going?" the captain called to him.

"Where else?" Garrod replied angrily; "I'm going back to the ship to give Tiffa these flowers!" But before he could continue walking, a massive explosion rocked the other side of the _Freeden. _

"An explosion?!" the young man exclaimed; "Are we under attack?!"

As if sensing what had happened, Jamil sprinted back towards the ship as fast as his legs could carry him. Garrod hurried after him, also worried for Tiffa's safety.

* * *

Jaan, Kid, Nine and Rococo saw Olba Frost barged into the hangar with Tiffa in his arms.

"Hey, you! What's the big idea?!" Jaan called out angrily as he rushed toward Olba. But the pilot quickly managed to pull out a pistol from the holster on his hip and fire it while using the other arm to keep a hold on the unconscious Newtype.

The shots stopped Jaan from pursuing, allowing him to rush over to his mobile armor and jump into the cockpit. He gently laid Tiffa in the space next to him and turned his attention to starting up his ride.

Jaan and the others could only watch in dismay as Olba's mobile armor started up and took off. It paused to turn and face them, its reddish-pink eye flashing ominously. The mobile armor then opened fire with its vulcans, forcing the four to drop to the ground.

Olba then turned back towards the wall, extended one of its scissor claws and jammed a massive hole in the ship, through which it flew out.

"Now, behold Gundam Ashtaron's true form!" he declared wickedly. With that, the mobile armor transformed, reconfiguring itself into the shape of a mobile suit - a Gundam with a red face.

It then extended its scissor claws and fired several beam shots on the landship, damaging it even further before finally flying away.

* * *

"I knew there was something fishy about that guy!" Witz said with an angry scowl as he watched Gundam Ashtaron swoop off into the distance. He, Tara and the bridge crew were gathered on the _Freeden_'s bridge, watching everything as it transpired.

"We can play the blame game later!" Tara said, worried more about Tiffa's safety than the fact that they had been duped. "Right now, Tiffa's been taken!" Suddenly, Jamil burst into the bridge room.

"Out of the way!" he yelled as he pushed Shingo Mori aside and started the _Freeden_'s engines at full power in order to pursue Olba Frost. "We have to get Tiffa back!"

However, the group was silent for a few moments. Finally, Sara stepped forward.

"Sir, I don't mean to engage in mutiny," Jamil's first officer said respectfully yet bluntly; "But we're all tired of risking our lives for Tiffa without any idea of why you want to keep her here. We've trusted you and followed your orders thus far, but now we realize that there's too much we still don't know. The least you can do is give us some answers."

"Yeah," Witz said in agreement; "Why's she so valuable to you? Why are you so goddamn persistent about her?!"

"Of course," Roybea added grimly; "The answer you give may decide on whether Witz and I stick around."

Jamil sighed. He had hoped to never reveal this to anyone. But there was no avoiding it - not if he wanted to save Tiffa. It so happened that at this moment, Garrod had made it to the door leading to the bridge, but opted to remain hidden - after all, he didn't know how the others would react.

Even as he kept his eyes on Olba's Gundam, Jamil began to relate his tale...

* * *

_Twenty-five years ago, I was a soldier for the United Nations Earth Military forces - a Gundam pilot._

_Back then, a single space colony, known as the Principality of Zeon, engaged in a fight for independence from the Earth. There were several smaller conflicts between the colonies and the Earth before this, six in total. But this struggle, the seventh, quickly escalated into a full-scale war between the Earth and the space colonies, led by Zeon and its ruler, the infamous ace Char Aznable. _

_For almost a year, the two sides were locked in a stalemate. Then one day, Zeon demanded the Federation's surrender by threatening to use their trump card, a colony drop. _

_To counter this, the Earth's forces deployed their secret weapon - the GX-9900...the mobile suit Gundam X. I was the pilot of one of those Gundams. As a Newtype, I was in charge of both its Satellite Cannon that would destroy a colony in one shot, and the unmanned Mobile Suit bits that would defend against the enemy mobile suits' attacks._

_Their largest colony, the asteroid Axis, was the first to come at us. The initial efforts to move it away appeared to have failed...so I pulled the trigger on my Gundam's Satellite Cannon, starting the worst tragedy in history._

_While me and my fellow Gundam pilots managed to destroy Axis, the rush to win forced the Spacenoids to execute their operation, while the Earth Federation counter-attacked without any sort of retreat. _

_You all know what happened next - the colonies fell, dealing catastrophic damage to the Earth. But even then, we Newtypes were used as tools of war. Before long, over nine billion people were dead..._

* * *

"...And because of my hasty actions," Jamil concluded; "The blood of those people, Newtype and Oldtype, is on my hands."

Tara realized now the reason why the _Freeden_'s captain seemed to empathize so readily with her and her dismay over killing people...he felt her guilt, only millions of times over...especially considering that he had acted before really understanding the situation.

"Captain, can you still use those abilities?" Sara asked, feeling great pity and empathy for her captain.

"No...at least not without tremendous pain," the captain replied, his concentration amazingly unbroken even after relating that long story.

"And Tiffa...she's a Newtype like you?" Toniya then inquired.

"Perhaps," Jamil answered; "That's why I want to save her...and not just her - I want to save any and all of the surviving Newtypes from being used as tools of war." He paused and looked around - everyone present was deathly silent. They had never expected Jamil to have such a dark secret.

"That is my answer to your questions," the veteran pilot then said to his crew; "Is it acceptable?" He waited silently for the crew to

"Of course," Sara replied with a warm smile, returning to her position. Toniya also went back to her seat.

"Let me take the helm, sir," Shingo said amicably, gently taking the wheel from Jamil; "I'll do whatever I can to keep up with Tiffa's captor."

"Count me in, too," Tara answered, her heart moved by her captain's story. "If it's to protect someone from being used as a weapon without their consent, I'll do what I have to do." She then turned to Roybea and Witz. "What about you guys?"

"Sorry, but count me OUT," Roybea said dismissively, much to the bridge crew's shock. "I'm not out to risk my life and limb for a crazy idealistic dream like that."

"Same here," Witz added. "This age isn't one where dreams like that can come to pass."

"What?!" Tara exclaimed, horrified at their rejection of such a noble cause; "You heartless..."

"I expected you'd say as much," Jamil interrupted. "I can't force you to stay. Since you fulfilled your initial contract, I'll ensure that you're paid accordingly."

"Thanks!" Witz said casually as he and Roybea headed for the hangar. "See ya round!"

"That's freelancers for ya," Toniya sighed. Jamil then turned to the pilot of Masakados.

"Tara," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder; "I'm sorry to place the burden of protecting the ship on you."

"It's fine," Tara answered with a little smile. "That's why we teamed up with the Iron Gear, right?" Garrod, having heard all of this, turned right around and headed after Roybea and Witz, managing to catch them in the hallway and standing in front of them.

"Garrod? How did you get out?" Roybea said, surprised to see the young man out of his cell at all.

"And what the hell do you want, anyway?" Witz asked, annoyed at having to deal with this kid again.

"You guys...you're seriously leaving?" Garrod said, his eyes seeming to plead.

"If you want us to take you along," the Gundam Leopard's pilot quipped, "Then go ask someone else." The two Gundam pilots tried to walk around Garrod, but he continued to block their way.

"No...I want you guys to help Jamil!" the young scrapper replied.

"Out of the way, kid!" Witz said loudly, his temper rising; "Or do you wanna get hurt?"

"Please, listen!" Garrod implored to them; "With everybody..." But Witz kneed the young man in the gut, then grabbed him and tossed him down the hall the way they came.

"I told him he'd get hurt," Witz grumbled as Garrod unsteadily got to his feet.

"I should have known better than to ask a couple of freelancers..." the boy grunted, leering at them with a contemptuous gaze. He then started walking slowly back towards the bridge.

"Did you see that look he gave me?" the Airmaster's pilot said as he and Roybea continued towards the hangar.

"Typical kids," Roybea sighed; "They don't realize that there's a difference between what you want to accomplish and what you can actually achieve. They think they can change the world by themselves, and belittle themselves when they realize they're still children."

_But even so,_ Witz thought; _That look was..._

* * *

Having relayed Tara his instructions, Jamil sat down in his captain's chair to prepare for battle. Just as Tara was about to exit the room, Garrod rushed by her, knocking her over.

"Jamil! Please, you gotta let me pilot!" he cried. "Let me use the Gundam X!"

"Why should I?" the veteran pilot replied contemptuously, assuming Garrod had heard his story. Tara was just getting to her feet.

"I told you!" Garrod replied indignantly, clenching his fist. "There's no way I'm letting them get away with Tiffa! And. I'm not gonna let the burden of protecting this ship fall on Tara's shoulders alone!"

Tara gasped with surprise. She had never pegged Garrod as the kind of person who would do that, especially after he so readily fired the horrific Satellite Cannon. Hearing his words somehow roused her spirit more as well.

"You can't use the Satellite Cannon right now," Jamil warned him; "And your enemies will probably be numerous. Do you still wish to risk your life?"

"I've been willing to do that since this started!" the young scrapper answered, his words filled with vigor and hot-blooded passion; "I've been trying to protect Tiffa ever since I first met her!"

Jamil smiled, reached under his seat, and took out the control device for the Gundam X and held it out to Garrod.

"...Go, then. I leave Tiffa's life in your hands...both of you."

"Right!" the boy cried eagerly as he grabbed the device from Jamil's hand and turned to his fellow pilot. "Let's go, Tara!" With that, the two hurried off to the hangar.

"Is that really the best idea?" Sara asked, wary of the captain's decision as the door closed behind the two young pilots.

"He is inexperienced...but unlike Tara, he has a lot of natural talent," the _Freeden_'s captain answered calmly; "It's better that he fight rather than someone like me with cockpit phobia. All we can do is support them however we can."

* * *

Nightfall was approaching, but the moon was yet to come out as the Walker Machines and Ganmen from the Iron Gear tromped out into the wastes. Immediately, they noticed that two of their teammates were missing.

"Hey! What happened to Tweedledee and Tweedledum?" Rag exclaimed when they noticed that Roybea and Witz had opted not to join them; "They didn't bail on us, did they?"

"Guess Jamil was right when he said they wouldn't be around long," Simon sighed. Suddenly, Boota started hopping up and down excitedly, pointing to two incoming mobile weapons - the Masakados and the Gundam X.

"Look, guys!" Chiru exclaimed when she saw them as well. "It's the Masakados! There's another Gundam with it, too!"

"Wait up, everyone!" Garrod called out as the Gundam X swooped down and landed.

"So, you must be the Garrod that Simon mentioned!" Kamina said in his usual upbeat manner. "Good to meet ya! I guess little Tiffa's your lady, huh?"

"Hey, it's not like that!" the Gundam X's pilot exclaimed, shocked that anyone would even think that...as much as the thought of being with her appealed to him.

"Save the introductions for later!" Elche called out over their radios. "We've got redshirts incoming!" Indeed, a sizable force of Daughtress and Jenice mobile suits was charging in, hoping to impede the progress of the _Freeden _and Iron Gear's forces.

"Leave these cannon fodder to us!" Jiron said as Xabungle readied its rifle. "You two hurry after that mobile armor!" Garrod and Tara quickly rushed off after Gundam Ashtaron while he and the other Iron Gear mech pilots faced down the incoming enemies...

* * *

Amazingly, Masakados and the Gundam X managed to catch up to Gundam Ashtaron - it almost seemed like Olba was intentionally letting them keep up with him.

But before Garrod and Tara could get close enough to reach the escaping Gundam, a large red and gold claw lashed out at them, forcing them to stop. They looked down, and saw that it belonged to a red Gundam - the Gundam Virsago, piloted by Shagia Frost.

"You made a grave mistake by not waiting for the moon to come out, GX," Shagia said smugly before lashing out with the claws again. Both machines bounded out of the way, but just barely. Tara, annoyed at this new foe, readied the Masakados' medium-sized blade, which began to hum with energy.

"Garrod, you hurry on ahead!" she said; "I'll hold off this guy!" The Gundam X's pilot nodded uneasily and continued onward. As Shagia turned to attack Garrod again, Tara fired several shots from one of the Masakados' arm cannons, slightly damaging the Virsago's claw.

"Your fight's with me, pal!" Tara cried as she charged in. Shagia managed to catch Tara's blade with his Gundam's beam saber.

"Oh, what do have we here?" the elder Frost brother said with a chuckle as the two machines crossed blades; "BizenTech's secret project! I wonder if Olba and I will get a bonus for taking it down as well?"

"How did you know about my machine?!" Tara exclaimed, momentarily taken off guard. Shagia used this opening to fire a few beam shots from Virsago's claws, staggering the Masakados.

"In my line of work, you have to spend a lot of time finding and collecting information," Shagia explained smugly. "Ignorant people are doomed to perish in this world...and you, little lady, are among the most ignorant souls I've ever met!"

Tara scowled as Gundam Virsago lashed out with its claws once more...

* * *

The mechs from the Iron Gear were doing rather well against the forces of Alternative Company - the power of the two Xabungles and the two Ganmen toppled numerous enemy mobile suits with astonishing ease. However, they had yet to face the enemy's trump card.

The ground began to rumble audibly as something enormous stomped onto the scene - two gigantic, spider-like, quadrupedal mobile armors. Each had a turret on each of their knees and a single red eye peered out from the central body. Jamil, a veteran of the war, would have recognized them.

"Whoa! What're those?!" Birume exclaimed in dismay when he realized that these new foes towered over even the Xabungles.

"Those have gotta be the biggest Walker Machines I've ever seen!" Rag said in awestruck agreement, also feeling uneasy in the face of these new enemies.

"Hey, we haven't seen the Iron Gear transform yet," Jiron said dismissively; "Besides, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

"They looks hard to knock over, Jiron," Simon chimed in.

"Come in!" Cotset's voice came from the mech's radios; "I've just gotten word from Captain Neate - those gigantic Walker Machines are called Grandeenes...and their main weapon is something called a photon particle torpedo launcher!"

As if to show off their power, the two Grandeenes started to charge up with blue energy for several seconds before releasing light blue spheres on energy that left green trails as they flew. One of them landed near the Gurren, sending it flying into a nearby wall. However, the impact was far from enough to greatly damage it. A second one landed nearby, just missing the _Freeden_.

"Geez, what a cheap move!" Kamina groaned as he got his Ganmen to its feet. "Why don't they fight like men and face us head...?!" But his words were interrupted when a second volley of photon particle torpedoes began to fall.

"Scatter!" Jiron called out. The Iron Gear's mechs scattered in all directions to avoid the falling energy projectiles.

* * *

Masakados fell backwards as Gundam Virsago smashed it with its claws. Tara was clearly outmatched by the expertise of Shagia Frost - even the learning AI had difficulty keeping up with his movements.

"Your tactics are predictable, girl," Shagia taunted; "For all the power that your machine possesses, it is useless in your hands. Now, I shall end your existence with my Virsago's trump card. It will take a minute to charge, so that will give you time to reflect on the pointlessness of your life."

The Gundam extended its claws and jammed them into the ground, then opened the plating on its chest, revealing a powerful-looking weapon not unlike the Grandeene's main cannon that started charging with red energy. At the sight of this, Tara's body became frozen with fear. After a few seconds, she heard an all-too-familiar phrase in her head.

_Pilot interference to own survival detected. Initiating AI Override..._

The same electrical pulses worked their way into her brain, threatening to shut down her higher reasoning. But this time she resisted. She didn't want to die as an animal, after all.

Masakado, watching her struggling to stop the takeover, suddenly remembered something - as an spirit of the earth, he had the ability to control anything derived from it; and computers were simply made using various metals.

Concentrating a little, he melded into the walls surrounding the machine.

_Warning: Unknown program detected. Initiating maLiCiOuSzZzZz..._

Suddenly, Tara felt her higher brain functions return as a voice resounded in her head.

_"Tara Amakuni!"_

"Masakado?!" she exclaimed, looking around but not seeing her ghostly companion anywhere in the cockpit. "Where'd you go?!"

_"I have managed to suppress that artificial intelligence inside this metal giant! Allow ME to guide your actions instead! Do not fear...we shall defeat these foes without slaying the pilots!"_

"O-okay...I trust you," Tara replied. At this point, she would try anything...even Masakado had a conscience, after all.

By this time, the weapon on Gundam Virsago's chest had finished charging.

"Now...perish," Shagia said. "Megasonic gun...fire!"

The blast fired a massive blast of red beam and sonic energy with such power that almost nothing could survive that at such close range.

But Tara, her body guided by the master samurai, managed to draw its medium length sword and hold it out defensively just before the energy struck. Amazingly, the red energy hit the sword, but did not touch the robot that held it up. Instead, it scattered the concentrated energy into much smaller bursts, spreading it across the landscape, a few parts of it landing in the nearby wooded ruins.

"What the?! Impossible! Only the Satellite Cannon is stronger than Virsago's trump card! How could a mere physical blade deflect it?!"

"Kouzuke is no ordinary physical blade, pal," Tara said, her confidence restored as Masakados' joints and eyes began to glow brightly. "Now, I'm gonna kick your butt all the way to three months ago!"

* * *

One of the scattered blasts from Virsago's megasonic gun landed in the woods near where Chirico was resting. The blast was close enough to send his Scopedog tumbling away, but not nearly enough to cripple it - another incredible stroke of luck on Chirico's part.

"Lousy scrappers," the AT piloted said to himself as he got his bearings; "Rochina must have sent them."

He walked over to the Scopedog and climbed in, allowing the mask on his pilot suit to integrate itself directly into the robot's scopes.

"Even if they aren't Rochina's goons," he then said grimly; "I can't let them live, no matter who they are."

* * *

"Come and get me if you can, GX!" Olba laughed as Garrod finally managed to catch up to his Ashtaron; "I'm right here!" Much to the young man's surprise, he turned his Gundam around and started firing on him with the beam cannons on its scissor claws, forcing the Gundam X to back off.

"Damn it all," Garrod grunted as he struggled to target one of Ashatron's limbs with his Gundam's beam rifle; "If I hit the cockpit, I'll kill Tiffa! How am I supposed to beat this guy without harming her?!" He fired several rounds, only for the bulky Ashtaron to roll out of the way with the greatest of ease.

"Why don't you just give up?" Olba taunted him over the communicator as he counterattacked with several beam shots. "You'll save yourself quite a bit of agony if you simply let me take Tiffa to my client."

But this mockery only served to turn Garrod's frustration into righteous resolve.

"...Never!" he cried as he switched to the GX's beam saber. "I won't give up!" He rushed in to try and sever some of his foe's limbs with the saber, only to be met with Ashtaron's own energy blade.

"What's the matter, GX?" the younger Frost brother taunted; "You're hardly worth calling the ultimate Gundam! You can't even save one little..."

Suddenly, Olba felt a wrenching pain in his gut, causing his attack to falter. Garrod managed to jump back and ready his beam rifle one more time. But this time, Olba switched Ashtaron to its mobile armor mode and started flying back towards the main battle.

"Get back here!" Garrod cried as he took after Tiffa's captor, not realizing why his foe had retreated.

* * *

As Lagann scurried about to find safety from the Grandeene's photon particle torpedoes, the pigmole in Simon's coat suddenly popped its head out and started hopping up and down in front of him.

"Huh? You have an idea, Boota?" Simon asked. Boota then began to make scratching motions on the dashboard.

"Oh, right!" the digger said as he realized what the pigmole was suggesting. "We can just dig down and hit it from below!" He then opened a channel with Kamina.

"Big bro! I have an idea!" he proclaimed, hope filling his heart. "Can you and the others distract these things for me? I'm gonna aim for the one on the left!"

"You got it!" his big bro said, giving him a quick thumbs-up. "We're counting on you, little bro!" With that, Lagann extended its forehead drill and dove underground.

"Hey, you idiots - over here!" Kamina then called out as he spurred Gurren straight toward the enemy. He was soon joined by Xabungle 1.

"Kamina, think you can help me destroy one of these things?" he asked as the two machines ran side-by-side. "We'll show them the combined manly powers of Xabungle and Gurren!"

"Sounds like a plan, my man!" the blue-haired undergrounder replied excitedly; "Simon's already got dibs on the left one, so we'll take out the one on the right!" Jiron nodded as the red Ganmen and the blue Walker Machine started to charge in unison, steam and smoke pouring from the grill on the latter's face.

As another photon particle torpedo started to fall near them, Kamina got an idea...a crazy idea only someone like him could come up with.

"Hey, Jiron...let's use the explosions from those photon thingies to jump way high!" he called; Jiron grinned and prepared to initiate Kamina's impromptu plan.

"Are you two crazy?!" Chiru exclaimed as they neared the projectile's apparent point of impact. With incredible timing and luck, the two machines managed to jump just as the torpedo struck the ground. Using the force of the displaced air to assist them, Xabungle and Gurren managed to leap above the machine. They then stood back to back and performed a simultaneous diving kick, both of them becoming wrapped in red and blue energy.

Meanwhile, Simon managed to get directly underneath one of the Grandeenes and turned Lagann upward, the tiny Ganmen engulfed in green energy.

**"FATAL BLOW!" **both Simon and Kamina called out simultaneously.

**"XABUNGLE AND GURREN'S..." **Jiron cried.

**"LAGANN..."**

**"...SUPER DELUXE DOUBLE..." **Kamina called out.

**"...IMPACTOOOO!"**

**"...KIIIIIIIICK!"**

In a display of amazing timing, the three robots managed to strike their foes simultaneously from below and above - destroying both gigantic mobile armors in one massive blow...

* * *

Tara seemed all but untouchable with the spirit of the master samurai pulsing through her nervous system. As Shagia tried to grab with Gundam Virsago's claws, she effortlessly dodged them. Finally, she fired several rounds from Masakados' plasma launchers, which turned into the same flaming butterflies that the ghost samurai had summoned before, battering Virsago.

"Well" the girl said proudly as Shagia's machine crashed to the ground; "Who's the ignorant one now?!" Masakados pulled out its largest sword and prepared to strike, its pilot taking aim at Virsago's legs.

"Don't worry, pal," Tara assured the Virsago's pilot; "Killing isn't my style. What I AM going to do is make sure no one can use that mobile suit ever again!"

As Tara swung the gigantic blade down, something suddenly got in the way and caught the sword mid-swing - Gundam Ashtaron and its scissor claws.

"Big brother!" Olba called to his brother, his voice filled with relief of having arrived in time.

"Olba, why didn't you return the girl to our client?!" Shagia exclaimed as Virsago managed to get to its feet.

"I felt your pain, big brother," Olba replied; "I couldn't let you suffer against this girl!" He then turned back towards Tara in anger.

"For the crime of harming my big brother," he declared; "I'll destroy you and that prototype!"

But before Tara could reply, she suddenly felt the spirit of Masakado leave her as its eyes dimmed and the lights on its joints went out entirely. After looking around, she saw the ghostly form of the samurai floating near her once more. What was more, her entire body felt like it was made of lead, and she dropped to her knees.

"Masakado, what happened?" she said, horrified at this turn of events, wondering if Olba's own cries had somehow dispelled her power boost.

"I'm sorry," Masakado replied profusely; "I could only maintain control for a short time...and it seems it takes a toll on your body."

"Well, it seems the shoe is on the other foot now, big brother," Olba chuckled as he threw Tara's sword aside.

"Indeed, Olba," his brother said smugly. But they were soon interrupted as well when the GX rushed in with its beam saber.

"Found ya, scumbag!" Garrod roared. But Gundam Ashtaron managed to dodge the slash. Still, it was enough to get the attention of both brothers.

"We can deal with this girl later," Olba said as he turned to face Garrod. "Let's destroy the GX together, big brother."

Shagia simply nodded and spurred Virsago towards the GX. Garrod tried to counterattack with his saber, but the red machine suddenly dodged and flew behind him. When Garrod turned around, Ashtaron rushed in and grabbed the white mobile suit's arms with its scissor claws, holding it in place.

"Big brother! Let's finish it off!" the Ashtaron's pilot called out.

"Indeed," Shagia replied as Virsago readied its beam saber; "Hold him so I can kill the pilot. That way we can take the GX for ourselves." The elder Frost brother pointed the tip of the blade at the Gundam X's torso. "Now, this is goodbye, GX!"

Garrod clenched his teeth and waited for the end.

But then a hail of bullets struck the Virsago, stopping it dead in its tracks. Ashtaron was hit a second later with another salvo, causing it to drop Garrod's machine. When it landed, the young man looked around...and saw a rather beat-up looking Scopedog swerving around.

"You there," the pilot of the Scopedog said over his machine's radio. "I'm trying to get some sleep." His voice that Garrod vaguely recognized.

"...You've got some nerve, challenging us with one broken Armored Trooper!" Olba said, appalled that they would be foiled by such a tiny opponent; "We'll squash you like the bug you are!"

Ashtaron tried to attack directly with its scissor claws, but the Scopedog easily avoided the attacks, dodging and weaving with incredible grace - a testament both to its pilot's skill and to the machine's capabilities.

With equal ease and grace, it began a counterattack - it started by firing its machine gun, peppering Olba's Gundam with bullets crafted to puncture the armor of mobile suits, which towered over five times a Scopedog's height.

Not all of the shots struck their mark, but it was enough to let it get close and approach from behind. By using a nearby hill as a launch ramp, the Scopedog took to the air. It then punched at the Gundam with its fist, the force multiplied greatly by the inclusion of a hydraulic cartridge. The force was enough to critically damage Ashtaron's flight pack, causing it to plummet to the ground.

Chirico wasted no time - he rushed up to the fallen Gundam, hopped out of the Scopedog, then opened the hatch using its external mechanism. As soon as he saw Olba, the Gilgamesh ace drew his pistol...and Garrod recognized the man - Chirico Cuvie.

"Hey - that's the guy from before!" Garrod exclaimed. "Did he really come to save me?"

"This is a Bahauzer M571 Armor Magnum," the AT pilot explained stoically. "It's designed to pierce armor on tanks, aircraft, and even the joints of mobile weapons."

"Wait! Please, don't kill my brother," Shagia suddenly pleaded desperately; "He's the only family I have! I'll do anything! Anything! Just please, don't take him from me!"

Garrod grinned when he heard the genuine anguish in Shagia's voice. This was his chance.

"Okay then, pal," the Gundam X's pilot said with a chuckle. "Tell him to give back Tiffa Adil...and make sure she's unharmed! Do that, and my buddy here let you two off easy." Unbeknownst to him, the Newtype girl was just starting to come around, the drug that Olba had injected her with finally wearing off.

_Brother, please, just give her back,_ Shagia pleaded to him telepathically; _The pay isn't worth it at this point!_

"Yes, big brother;" Olba replied with a sigh. He extended the atomic scissor claws from his Gundam's back and into the cockpit. With the greatest of care, he made the claw grab Tiffa and lower her to the ground a few dozen yards from the GX. Garrod sighed with relief when he saw that the girl was just fine.

"Good," Garrod said as Chirico got off Olba's Gundam. He was surprised that the AT pilot decided to go along with Garrod's plan so willingly, but maintained his defiant tone.

"Now, SCRAM! I don't want to see you two ever again!"

Virsago stumbled over to the damaged Ashtaron, which switched to its mobile armor mode, and stood on it. Ashtaron then took off in the other direction, carrying its brother with it as Tiffa's grogginess started to wear off, allowing her to finally stand.

Excitedly, Garrod made the Gundam X kneel down while extending its right arm and hand downward, so he could slide down.

"Tiffa! Tiffa!" he called out as he opened the cockpit. He slid down the Gundam's arm, only to accidentally land on his tailbone. He yowled a bit and rubbed it, which somehow made Tiffa smile and giggle a little bit.

"Garrod...I knew you'd save me," she said in her usual subdued tone, though she was probably happy enough to leap into his arms.

"Come on," the young man said excitedly as he held his hand out to Tiffa; "Let's go back - Jamil and the others are waiting for us."

Tiffa nodded, but started back toward the landship on her own, completely ignoring Garrod's outstretched hand. Suddenly, she stopped and turned to see Chirico approaching them.

"Your name is Garrod?" he asked.

"Yeah - I'm Garrod Ran...and this is my friend, Tiffa Adil," the GX's pilot replied.

"That man...I would have killed him if you had let me, Garrod Ran," the AT pilot said stoically, which astonished Garrod.

"Hey, I didn't necessarily want to kill that guy!" the boy replied, flustered by Chirico's blunt and morbid statement; "I just wanted to get Tiffa back."

Chirico squinted at him with only the slightest hint of contempt in his eyes.

"You're too softhearted," he said. Without another word, Chirico turned back towards his Scopedog. But Tiffa ran over and grabbed him by the hand, causing a twinge of jealousy in Garrod.

"Wait. Please, come back with us," the Newtype pleaded.

"Y-yeah," the GX's pilot added, not wanting to go against Tiffa's sincere wishes; "That Scopedog of yours is looking kinda beat up. At least let us repair it for you on the _Freeden_."

Chirico pondered this offer. He had no idea when he'd find supplies to repair his machine, and he didn't want to risk getting caught out in the open without a way to defend himself.

"...If you insist," he replied and continued on his way to the Scopedog. "I'll follow you to your _Freeden_." Garrod smiled. He grabbed Tiffa's hand and took her back to the Gundam X's still-lowered hand. Automatically sensing the weight of its pilot, the machine raised its hand up and let Garrod and Tiffa go inside.

"Um...what is your name, anyway?" the GX's pilot asked over his mobile suit's radio. "It would be awkward to let you on board without you telling us that much."

After a moment, Chirico answered.

"Chirico...Chirico Cuvie."

Tara and Masakado, having witnessed all this, couldn't help but be in awe at Chirico's skill.

"That man...he is truly a warrior without compare," Masakado said.

* * *

Back at the _Freeden _and Iron Gear, Jamil and the others watched as the Gundam X, Masakados, and Scopedog returned. Garrod helped Tiffa back to the ground while Tara and Chirico got out of their own machines.

"You did well, you two," Jamil said proudly.

"Yeah, but Chirico here saved our asses before we got killed!" Garrod replied.

"If there's anyone responsible for getting Tiffa back, it's him," Tara added with a nod. Jamil nodded and turned to the blue-haired pilot.

"I am deeply in your debt, my friend," he said, extending his hand to shake Chirico's. The latter, however, made no move to do so.

"Don't be...I only did what I thought was right," the AT pilot replied as he started back towards his Scopedog so he could wheel it into the hangar; "Just let me repair my AT on board, and I'll be on my way."

"We could use someone like you aboard the _Freeden _on a long-term basis," Sara commented. "All of our pilots are amateurs, so we could benefit from having another professional like you on board." Garrod and Tara grumbled a bit at being called amateurs.

Chirico stopped at glanced over at Sara.

"No...you don't."

"Why not?" Toniya asked, astonished that this man was so insistent on fighting alone. "You took on two Gundam-type mobile suits in a beat-up Scopedog! How could we NOT benefit from having you around?"

"I'm wanted by the Gilgamesh Confederation's military," Chirico explained. "I'd bring you nothing but trouble. Besides, that Olba Frost fellow got on board because you trusted him too readily."

"This whole group is a magnet for trouble, really," Leeron chimed in. "It's been one battle after another for us lately, and I bet we're probably gonna piss them off sooner or later anyway."

"Also, I won't make that mistake again," Jamil added. "From now on, we'll only trust those willing to put their lives on the line for someone like Tiffa, just as you did."

Suddenly, Chirico remembered the note. He figured that it was worth seeing if they would go to where his Red Shoulder buddies were meeting.

"...Fine. I'll go along for now," he said. "But there's one thing I want you to do before I make my final choice."

"And that would be?" Jamil asked.

"I need to rendezvous with some people for a mission," the AT pilot answered; "I want you to take me to the rendezvous point. It's far northeast of here; I'll give you the coordinates when we set out."

"Fine," Jamil replied; "But until you make your final decision, we're keeping you under surveillance."

Chirico simply nodded. He knew that Jamil was no fool.

* * *

"That was humiliating, big brother!" Olba cried out as he and his brother worked on repairing their damaged Gundams in an old abandoned hangar; "I can't believe we lost to those kids and a solitary Armored Trooper!"

"Don't take it so hard," Shagia said as he fiddled with some of Virsago's wiring; "Gilgamesh's AT pilots are legendary for their skills. If he had killed you..."

"Damn them," Olba growled, slamming his fist on Ashtaron's armor. "Damn them and their crazed obsession with Newtypes! If only we had more power..."

_Humans are truly puzzling creatures, _a bewitching female voice suddenly said - seeming to come from nowhere._ Capable of such love and such hatred at the same time._

"Who's there?!" Shagia called out. "Show yourself!"

In a puff of purple smoke, something appeared just behind him: a sexy-looking woman that seemed to be in her mid-twenties. She had extremely long, shiny purple hair tied back in a ponytail and wore a skin-tight purple robe with a laced lining, gold edges and overlarge sleeves; said robe was decorated with outlined images of poppies. The actual flower, red as blood, was neatly pinned into her hair, right next to a hair clip resembling a human skull with horns. Finally, she wore a white mask with red markings over most of her face, exposing only her thin lips and slightly pointed chin. The mask's eyes were deep pits of black, making it impossible to distinguish their true color.

"Who are you?" he asked, astonished that someone could appear out of thin air. Olba approached as well, gazing in wonder at the beauty.

"I am the Princess of Demons, Matakiyasha," the woman answered, bowing in a rather seductive manner; "I have heard what your hearts desire, and I have come to grant your wish."

_Big brother...she's a demon! _Olba said to his brother telepathically, concerned about being approached by such a being;_ A real, live demon!_

_Even demons can be manipulated, Olba, _Shagia replied confidently;_ Let me handle this._

"Fine," he then said, looking at Matakiyasha coldly; "But what's the catch? Do you want our souls or something?" The masked princess suddenly burst out laughing in response to this inquiry.

"Your SOULS?!" she said as she composed herself rather quickly; "Oh, don't be silly...all I desire is that you grant MY wish in return."

"And that would be?" the elder Frost brother asked, prepared to gauge the demon based on the nature of her desire.

"...To plunge the human world into endless war and chaos," she said with a wry smile, licking her lips. A wicked smile crossed both Shagia and Olba's faces.

_Hear that, Olba? _the Virsago's pilot said to his brother via telepathy; _She wants the same thing we do._

_Yes, big brother! _Ashtaron's pilot replied;_ With her help, we can make them all pay for rejecting us!_

"All right," Shagia said confidently as he extended his hand to shake hers; "You have yourself a deal." But to his surprise, the woman leaned in and gently kissed Shagia on the cheek. She then turned to Olba and did the same thing.

"The covenant is sealed," Matakiyasha said with a seductive giggle. "I look forward to working with you two." With that, she took a step back and disappeared in another, much larger cloud of purple smoke.

When it cleared, the Frost brothers saw that their Gundams had somehow been magically repaired...

* * *

An armored police van drove through one of the seedier parts of Tokyo towards the police station as the full moon rose into the sky, its light softened by the glass of the dome. Two policemen sat in the front of the van, one of them driving.

"Lobelia Carlini...who would have thought she'd show up here in Tokyo?" the driver said. "And who would have thought we'd capture her?"

"They say she's a demon in human skin," the passenger commented, shuddering a bit; "I mean, she can manipulate flames! No human could do that! Good thing the ambassador to France is such a good shot."

Suddenly, they saw a man in a gray trenchcoat walking out into the middle of the road. The man stopped and swayed a bit as if drunk, his stances hunched over. Not wanting to run the man over, the driver slammed on the brakes, stopping just inches from the man, having turned around completely.

"What the hell are you doing?" the driver said angrily at the man as he and his partner got out. "You got a death wish or somethin'?"

"Must be another drunken vagrant," his partner said, shaking his head. "The eighth one tonight." The driver suddenly turned to his fellow policeman with a rather unnerving smirk.

"What do ya say we throw him in the back with Carlini?" the driver said with a twinge of sadism in his voice.

"What kind of sicko are you?!" the passenger exclaimed, understandably horrified at the idea.

"C'mon, it oughta make for a fun show," his partner said, gently elbowing him in the chest. "It's not like they're gonna kill each other."

"Don't bother," the drunken man suddenly uttered, causing the driver to turn around.

With a wild, sadistic grin, the man in the trenchcoat jammed his fingers, with nails sharpened to deadly points, into the driver's eyes. He then stabbed at the man's ears, sending them flying off, causing blood to start spewing everywhere. Finally, he jammed his fingers into the driver's mouth and tore out his tongue. The driver dropped to the ground like a rag doll, bleeding out of every orifice on his head.

The passenger looked on with gut-wrenching horror as he finally got a good look at the man in the trenchcoat. He had thick black hair with bangs that extended several inches out from his forehead and bushy two-pronged sideburns. His eyes were such a dark brown that they appeared black...like blood-soaked earth.

"Y-y-you're that terrorist...H-Hayato J-Jin!" the cop cried out as numerous armed thugs started to come out of hiding. The next thing he knew, Hayato grabbed the man by the throat and slammed him against the rear door.

"Could you tell me the combination?" the terrorist said with unnerving politeness as he squeezed the cop's throat; "You know...the one for the lock." But the policeman gagged and retched as Hayato's grip around his throat slowly tightened.

"Tell me if you want it to be painless!" Hayato roared. Finally the cop relented as one of the thugs approached the lock, which was a series of ten metal wheels with the 26 letters of the alphabet engraved each one.

"C..."

The thug turned the first reel to C, and turned each successive reel to the letter the cop uttered.

"...U...T...I...E...H...O...N...E...Y..."

Hayato heard a click from within the doors. With a grin, he severed the policeman's jugular vein and crushed his spinal cord through his neck, killing him instantly. He then stepped back and allowed two of the thugs to open the heavy doors.

Inside, in the corner closest to the passenger side, was a single person - a young woman of European descent probably no older than twenty. She had thick, wild silvery-blue hair with matching eyes that gazed out from a pair of thin but large round glasses while a collar with a golden padlock rested around her neck. The remainder of her body was covered by a thick straitjacket that tightly bound her. Sensing that it was safe enough to approach, Hayato hopped into the van and approached the woman.

"Lobelia Carlini, I presume?" he said, with a wicked smirk as he gently ran his nail across the smooth skin on her face.

"Who are you?" the young woman asked contemptuously.

"I'm Hayato Jin," the terrorist said; "I've been looking for someone of your...talents."

"Why should I help you?" she asked with a sly smile. "If you're going to court a potential recruit, it's only proper you remove their bonds first."

Hayato smirked.

The Flaming Demon of Paris was proving to be everything he had imagined her to be.

* * *

_My record for longest single chapter has been broken again! Next time, we'll once again be taking a break from the adventures of the two ships in order to focus on the events of New Getter Robo, and continue with Sakura Taisen's plot! See ya next chapter, mecha fans!_


	7. Chapter 6

_Next up, some New Getter Robo plot, as well as some Sakura Taisen plot! This wasn't quite as long as I had hoped for it to be, but I hope you all still like it. Also, I appreciate reviews very much, even if they're critical of my work. I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing skills, so review away!_

* * *

**Chapter 6 - The Power of Pneuma! Getter Robo's First Flight!**

So, the group had a new destination in mind - an outpost on the continent of North America. Chirico never said who wanted to meet him at the coordinates, and what the mission entailed, so Jamil made good of his plan to keep the AT pilot under surveillance.

Of course, it was one thing to keep him under surveillance - it was another to have a conversation with him.

"Morning, Chirico," Tara said as she strode into the _Freeden_'s cafeteria and saw Chirico solemnly eating his breakfast; "Sleep well?"

"I suppose so," the AT pilot replied stoically, his expression unchanging.

"How's the food?" she then asked as she grabbed a few items from the counter and sat down near Chirico. "I'm actually really enjoying these pancakes."

"It's edible," Chirico answered, still not changing expressions as he spooned some oatmeal into his mouth.

"What's your favorite food, anyway?" Masakados' pilot then inquired. Chirico swallowed his oatmeal and looked at her, leering suspiciously.

"Why do you care?" the blue-haired soldier asked.

"Geez, can't we have a casual conversation?" Tara replied, puzzled at the answer Chirico had given her. To her annoyance, Chirico then picked up his tray and stood up.

"Conversation without a greater purpose is pointless," he said with a hint of contempt in his voice before walking away, taking it over to a table in the far corner. Tara sighed and returned to her breakfast, only to hear someone else addressing her: Sara Tyrell, Jamil's first officer.

"Jamil was a lot like that when we first met him," she said as she sat down, a cup of coffee, scrambled eggs and toast on her plate; "He barely spoke a word to us unless he was giving orders."

"Oh...morning, Sara," Tara said, raising herself up a bit more. In spite of them being barely a year apart, Sara acted much more maturely, making her seem older.

"So, are you adjusting to life outside the domes, Amakuni?" the _Freeden_'s first officer asked.

"I guess so," Tara replied, lightly scrapping her plate with her fork. "It's been almost a week now since I first joined up - but it feels like a lifetime ago already."

Suddenly, Sara noticed the scar on Tara's face, having never noticed it before. It was small, but it was hardly invisible.

"I don't mean to pry, but how long have you had that scar? The one on your left cheek?" she asked politely.

"Oh, that?" Tara said with an awkward smile as she touched the scar. "It was caused by a burn I had a few years ago in my grandfather's workshop. He was teaching me how to make swords the old-fashioned way, and somewhere along the line I got a few drops of molten steel on my face."

"Your grandfather is a swordsmith?" Sara said, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"Uh-huh!" Tara said enthusiastically, her pride swelling a bit; "He used to make swords for the Tokyo Imperial Navy back during the Demon War!"

"The...Demon War?" Sara said, looking at Tara like she wasn't all there.

"Oh yeah, you're not from Tokyo, so I guess you wouldn't have known," the pilot of Masakados said, realizing how worked up she getting; "Anyway, somehow, a huge army of those freaky monsters we've been running into suddenly started appearing all over the Earth. But the UNE's forces, led by an elite squadron from Tokyo, Paris and New York, managed to drive them back to wherever they came from...at least that's the story my grandfather told me."

"But they've been terrorizing the Earth since the colony drops," Jamil's first officer replied, wondering why she had never heard of this; "And that was before either of us were born."

"Yeah," Tara finally sighed, looking down a bit in disappointment; "You gotta wonder, though - how did the demons get here in the first place? Did mankind call them, or did something beyond this world send them?"

"Who can say?" Sara replied with a sigh, shrugging a bit. "I've heard a few old coots say that they're the Earth's vengeance against us for despoiling its gifts...but that's probably stretching it. Regardless, it seems like they're here to stay."

* * *

Not everything under Tokyo's jurisdiction was underneath the dome. On Mount Asama, a medium-sized mountain a few miles from the dome, sat an unusual building - a laboratory, with a geodesic dome sticking out of the top. Nearby sat the ruins of a recently wrecked building.

The building with the geodesic dome was the Getter Ray Institute, and the ruins were its previous home. In its depths, the scientist in charge of it all, Professor Saotome, was applying antiseptic medication to the cracks between his toes, too occupied with the person on the phone to notice any pain.

The man was a stout, wrinkled fellow with a tuft of gray hair on his chin, wild and unkempt hair, and piercing eyes that shone with a keen intellect far beyond most men.

"I see...so they read the report, eh?" Saotome said with a slight grumble. "It figures - that's what those UNE buffoons get for trying to use Getter for military purposes." He hung up the phone and looked down at a torn photo lying on the table - one of a man in a trenchcoat.

"Ah well, even the dullest scissors have their uses," the scientist mused. Suddenly, he heard the door open. In entered a woman with brown hair tied back in a bun. She wore a military officer's uniform with a tight, knee-length skirt and red shoes. Following close behind were the five Kohbu pilots - Ichiro, Sakura, Sumire, Erica and Gemini. The scientist's grim expression brightened a bit when he saw them enter.

"Well, well, if it isn't Ayame Fujieda and the Hanugami, right on time" Saotome said pleasantly, addressing the uniformed woman as he put on his socks and shoes. "You're looking as lovely as I remember, Vice Officer...as are your flowers."

"It's good to see you too, Professor Saotome," Ayame replied cordially, even if she did like being complimented. The other Hanugami bowed respectfully as well, though Sumire grumbled a bit. She wondered what would possess a group as dignified as the Imperial Flower Assault Force to associate with a mad scientist like Saotome.

"I take it that drunkard Yoneda was too busy indulging in his usual vices to pay respects to an old friend?" the scientist asked with a grin. "He's never on time."

"Actually, he's working," Ayame explained; "We're still investigating the appearance of those Steam Beasts inside the dome about a week ago." Meanwhile, the scientist gave the impeccably uniformed Kohbu pilots a once-over.

"Now I'm looking at you all, I see a few new faces," he said. Ayame motioned to Erica and Gemini, who stepped forward and saluted their superior's acquaintance.

"Gemini Sunrise, of the New York Combat Revue! Pleased to meet you, Professor!" the red-headed cowgirl said before stepping back into line.

"Erica Fontaine, of the Paris Flower Assault Division!" Erica chirped enthusiastically; "I'm ready to help in any way I can!" The officer nodded with approval, and allowed the young pilots to assume more casual postures.

"Well, I assume you've been briefed already, but I called you Hanugami here because my lab needs protection while I finish testing my latest project, the Getter Robo," the scientist explained. "While the components to it completed, I need now to find suitable pilots. Thankfully, I've found one of them already. He should be here any second now."

"Oh, really?" Ayame said, raising an eyebrow. As if to answer, someone else entered the room - a lean and athletic man in his mid-twenties with messy black hair that went down his neck and extended at the front. He wore a black tank top, ripped jeans and a pair of worn sneakers.

"I'd like you all to meet Ryoma Nagare," Saotome said with a grin. But instead of respectfully bowing, Ryoma turned to his boss. Ayame gasped a bit when she recognized the name and saw the man's face.

"Hey, old man - what's with the goofy marching band?" Ryoma quipped, much to the Hanugami's shock.

"Marching band?!" Sakura exclaimed, appalled at being regarded so derisively.

"Vice Officer Fujieda," Sumire protested angrily; "This man is nothing more than a common thug!"

"He may seem like a thug...but he's hardly common!" Saotome exclaimed indignantly, annoyed that anyone would show such disdain for his chosen one. Sumire glared daggers at the scientist, only to suddenly meet the stern gaze of her superior.

"Shinguuji, Kanzaki - that's enough out of you," Ayame said, leering at her subordinate.

"Ryoma," Saotome said, gesturing to the assembled pilots; "I'd like you to meet the Imperial Flower Assault Force. They're going to be providing support during Getter's initial testing." Ryoma looked back and forth at them.

"...These are the Hanugami?" he exclaimed. "They're just kids!"

"Y'all got a problem with that, buddy?" Gemini said, leering at Saotome's chosen pilot. Unexpectedly, Ryoma then grinned widely as he held his hands behind his head.

"Actually, I wanna like to thank ya for the other day," he said. "If you guys hadn't shown up at my dojo then, that huge mechanical rabbit might have snipped me to bits!"

"Wait...that was YOUR dojo, Mister Nagare?" Erica suddenly exclaimed as she remembered the incident. "Oh, I'm so sorry...I was the one who went and wrecked it when I was chasing that awful Ciseaux..."

"Don't sweat it," Ryoma said. "The only people who'd be mad are yakuza, and they'd probably think twice before taking on you guys." Ichiro nodded approvingly.

"Ryoma, we begin the next phase of testing tomorrow," Saotome said with a nod. "Go and get some rest. I'll brief the Hanugami here on our situation..."

* * *

The light of the full moon lit the way for a band of dark-clothed terrorists and thugs, many of them in ski masks, working their way along a long, rough path up Mount Asama. Among them were their leader, Hayato Jin, and their newest recruit, Lobelia Carlini, who was now dressed in a dark green trenchcoat, leather bracers and black combat boots; to top it all off, a short chain roughly a foot in length hung from her right wrist.

"Is this it?" one of the thugs, an snub-nosed fellow with an orange sweatband, asked.

"I've done the research - this is just camouflage to fool casual viewers," Hayato replied. The man with the orange sweatband waved the others on, and they all began to scurry up the path, unwittingly tripping a laser alarm, which alerted the scientist crew still inside.

They made their way up the path and stopped at a large metal building with a thick set of blast doors. After quickly checking for guards, a few of the men rushed up to the door and stuck a glop of gelatinous, plastic-like substance to it, then stuck a small, pen-like object into the goo. After stepping back and taking cover, one of them pressed a button. The object ignited and caused the plastic to explode violently.

But when the smoke and dust cleared, all that the explosive had done was put a black scorch mark on the door.

"Holy crap," one of the thugs said, awestruck as he felt the thickly armored barrier; "This is no ordinary door." Lobelia frowned and approached the door herself.

"Step aside and let me show you how's done," she said, pushing them out of the way. She adjusted her glasses and cracked her knuckles, then held both hands out, fingers curved like claws. To the marvel of everyone except Hayato, a pair of white-hot streams of heat poured out of her hands and began to slowly burn a hole into the door.

"Geez, what a pain in the ass," a voice came from above, causing the men to stop and look up. Lobelia paused as well. Up on the roof of the structure, leaning on a railing, was Ryoma Nagare.

"They wake me up at two in the morning for this," he grumbled before stepping over the railing. "Hey, which one of you guys is Hayato Jin?"

"You!" one of the thugs yelled as several of them began to open fire with automatic weapons like uzis and assault rifles. Ryoma, not intimidated in the least, leaped off the ledge and over the gunfire, stomping on one of the thugs and leaping off him before engaging the rest of the thugs in a brawl. For all their firepower, they couldn't touch him, and within minutes, all of Hayato's goons were on the floor unconscious or dead.

But Ryoma barely had a moment to rest before Lobelia threw herself at him. She moved with grace rivaling that of her foe, but the wild brawler was always one step ahead of her...even when she started throwing fireballs.

"Whoa! I've heard of chicks being firebrands," Ryoma joked as he sidestepped a fireball; "But I didn't think it'd ever be quite so literal!"

"Don't mock me!" Lobelia screeched. She lunged at him again, but Ryoma was able to leap clear over her head and land behind her. She whirled around, only for her opponent to quickly flick her glasses upward and deliver a quick, but powerful punch to her face, knocking her down.

"Normally, I'd never hit a lady," he quipped; "But I had to make an exception in your case." He then looked up at Hayato, who was approaching and baring his sharpened nails.

"Hey, you're Hayato Jin, ain't ya?" Ryoma said with a smirk. "Speak up."

"Hmph...you're quite the watchdog," Hayato said finally as he stepped forward, casually kicking the body of one of his dead goons aside.

"Want me to sink my teeth in?" the brawler asked with an eager grin. Hayato merely smirked back. With that, Ryoma rushed in and tried to deliver a quick knockout blow, only for the terrorist leader to easily dodge it. Hayato countered with what he assumed would be a fatal slash that would tear Ryoma's face off. But when Hayato looked back, he saw that his foe was still alive - all he had accomplished were to make three shallow cuts across Ryoma's face.

"Surprised that I dodged your attack?" Ryoma chuckled as he brushed his middle finger on the wound and licked the blood; "Don't write yourself off - you're the first person to ever put a scar on my face."

Just then, Lobelia got up, her face filled with anger as her irises seemed to ignite. But again, this only made Ryoma excited.

"Two against one...now things are getting interesting!"

Lobelia launched a pair of fireballs from her hands, which Ryoma deftly leaped over, just in time to deflect a claw strike from Hayato. The fight quickly became a furious dance of punches, kicks, slashes and flames, though neither side was able to land another successful hit.

Suddenly, a scream coming from nearby stopped the fighting. The three looked up to see the thug with the orange sweatband stumbling forward just as his right arm unceremoniously plopped to the ground.

"Boss...help me..." he groaned before falling to the ground. Right behind the dying man came six large, beefy humanoid creatures with thick gray skin and horns on their heads. Hayato weakly giggled with confused terror, while Lobelia took a step back, her own resolve faltering at the sight of these brutes.

"Onis..." Ryoma mumbled.

All at once, the Onis charged, their claws and teeth bared. But Hayato was quicker, slashing and stabbing the monsters with his sharpened nails. In a matter of moments, all six were on the ground, unmoving. He looked up when he heard Ryoma slowly clapping.

"You're pretty good...no wonder the old man had an eye on you," Ryoma said with a tone of bemused approval before glancing down at the fallen Onis. "But..."

All at once, the Onis got back to their feet - still wounded but still very much alive. Hayato started to grunt and whine anxiously - after all, anything else he had wounded like that should have been dead. But Ryoma leaped over him and delivered a powerful flying kick to the nearest one, breaking its head in a manner not unlike smashing a melon to bits with a sledgehammer while blood and gore spewed everywhere.

"You gotta aim for their heads," the brawler explained. Suddenly, another Oni lunged at him from behind, only to suddenly ignite. Ryoma looked up and saw Lobelia standing there, her hand still smoking a bit from a fireball she just unleashed. The Oni staggered backwards and tumbled off the ledge, bursting into dust on impact.

"Of course, burning them to ashes works pretty well, too," he quipped.

Suddenly, Hayato felt something grabbing his leg - he looked down and saw the thug with the orange sweatband there, looking up desperately.

"Hayato...help...me..." the man gurgled as his body started to turn gray, while something started to push its way out of his forehead - a horn. Horrified, the terrorist leader did the only thing he could think of - he smashed the grunt's face into the ground, breaking it with a gruesome crackle. Frantically, he started clawing at it.

"Man, what a nasty sight," Ryoma said, shaking his head. "But you're doing the right thing."

Suddenly the last Oni, which was just avoided an attack from Lobelia, jumped away and started rushing down the mountain. Ryoma rushed after it, but the creature was already too far away - he and the two survivors could only watch as the oni got on all fours and started making a series of loud, roaring cries...as if it was calling out for assistance. A great tension seemed to fill the air.

But quickly, Lobelia tossed a fireball down the mountain, incinerating the monster with one blast. With that, the tension in the air dissipated entirely. With the fight over, Ryoma turned to Hayato, who was breathing heavily after tearing through the Onis.

"Listen, Hayato - The professor wants to meet ya. How about you come and hear him out?"

Hayato looked at Ryoma suspiciously, as did Lobelia. But warily, they agreed to go with him. Confidently, Ryoma beckoned them to follow, and they entered the lab, not knowing what awaited them.

* * *

"This must be what they mean by having everything handed to you on a silver platter!" Saotome said with impish excitement with a somewhat twisted grin after witnessing Hayato's abilities. He had seen everything from the Saotome Institute's control room, where numerous other scientists were monitoring their movements.

"Professor, what about the woman?" one of the junior scientists asked. "She could cause far more damage to the lab than Hayato!"

"Just follow the plan exactly as I told you!" the professor replied in an annoyed tone. "I have to get ready to greet our guest..."

* * *

"How much farther?" Hayato asked suspiciously as he, Lobelia and Ryoma walked down another hallway. Unbeknownst to them, Ryoma had been leading them on a winding scenic route in order to stall for time.

"It's just through these doors, you two," Ryoma said with a smirk as the thick blast doors in front of them opened up with a hiss.

As the trio passed through the doors, they came into what seemed to be an immense hangar. Up on a higher level were three metal platforms, upon which sat three different unusual-looking aircraft - one red, one white, and one yellow.

Hayato stepped forward a bit to get a better look while Lobelia remained away a bit. Suddenly, from another upper platform, a beam of green energy shot out. The fire wielder tried to deflect it with her flames, but it stopped a few feet from her and spread out, forming a dome over her.

"What the hell?!" Lobelia exclaimed as she rushed over to the barrier and started banging on it. "What is this?!"

"Caught you again, Lobelia Carlini," came the voice of Ayame Fujieda.

"Damn you!" she screeched as she kicked the green energy dome.

"This Getter barrier will keep you caged, child," the voice of Saotome chuckled. "We can't have the Flaming Demon of Paris running around the lab freely."

Hayato, rather unconcerned for his new recruit, looked up and saw Saotome on the platform with the yellow aircraft, wearing a piloting suit of sorts.

"Hayato Jin," the scientist began, his eyes looking straight at Hayato's, even from high up; "You came here in search of the secrets of Getter, did you not?"

The terrorist grinned.

"As you may have been told, I've been watching you for some time now. You have all the makings of a great Getter pilot - the physical and mental qualities to tap into its immense power! Therefore, I'm going to give you a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a part of something truly grand...this machine is the only thing currently capable of utilizing Getter Rays at the fullest potential...GETTER ROBO!"

Hayato didn't even need a second to think about his answer. After all, he was going to take the power of Getter for himself either way.

"All right - I'll play ball."

"Excellent," Saotome said with a grin of his own as a few armed guards in full SWAT gear grabbed him; "Take him to the preparations chamber."

* * *

Keeping Lobelia Carlini contained was going to be tougher than just using a few armed men. After all, she didn't earn the name "Flaming Demon of Paris" by being meek and quiet. Of course, no one had ever though to contain her in a barrier made of pure energy, which made it rather safe for Michiru Saotome, a woman with short brown hair, muted brown eyes, a lab coat and a silver crucifix around her neck, to sit nearby, flipping through some of her research notes.

"You can't keep me locked up in here!" Lobelia cried. "Somehow, I'll bust out of this cage, and when I do..."

"I'm afraid that's not happening, little lady," the seated woman chuckled. "This is the same kind of barrier that protects this laboratory. The only thing you'll accomplish is giving yourself some nasty burns."

Lobelia growled and formed a fireball between her hands. With a loud cry she shoved it at the barrier - only for it to backfire and singe her left arm. The young woman dropped to her knees, clenching her teeth to keep herself from crying out.

"See? What did I tell you?" Michiru quipped nonchalantly as a nearby door opened up.

"It's not nice to taunt people like that, Michiru Saotome," Erica's voice came from the doorway. She looked over and saw Ichiro, Erica and Sakura there, with another woman - a dignified, matronly woman with wisps of gray in her short, dark blonde hair. She wore two pearl necklaces and a set of long, flowing pinkish-red robes.

"Oh, it's you three," she said with mild surprise before turning to the woman in the robes; "And who might you be, madam? I don't believe we've met."

"This is the Grand Mere;" Erica chirped; "She's in charge of the Paris Flower Assault Division!"

"Bonjour, Madamoiselle Saotome," the matronly woman said respectfully. "I see you've been keeping an eye on your other guest."

"I take it you're interested in the Flaming Demon of Paris, eh?" Michiru said with a smile, glancing over at Lobelia, who was still grimacing and coping with the pain from being hit by her own fireball.

"Indeed," Grand Mere replied; "Like Erica and the other Hanugami, Lobelia possesses an extraordinary amount of Pneuma. This makes her a prime candidate to become one." At this, Michiru started to chuckle in amusement.

"An archfiend like her, in your little band of teenage do-gooders? Next you're going to tell me that you have a bridge to sell me."

"I can hear you, you know!" Lobelia cried, catching everyone's attention. The Grand Mere walked toward the barrier, stopping a few inches from it.

"Then we won't waste time with pleasantries," she said bluntly; "Lobelia Carlini, we'd like you to join the Hanugami."

"We help keep the peace of this world that's only now getting back on its feet!" Ichiro added, also approaching the barrier.

"Please, we greatly need your power!" Erica pleaded. At this, Lobelia turned her nose up at them.

"I will not," the criminal replied disdainfully. "I use my power for myself, and no one else! Besides, it doesn't matter if my sentence is doubled from a thousand years to two thousand."

"That's right...you were sentenced to a thousand years in prison for your crimes," Grand Mere said, nodding thoughtfully. "Perhaps we can get your sentence reduced."

Lobelia's head turned slightly towards them, those words suddenly starting to sway her.

"For every merit-worthy deed you perform as a member of the Hanugami," the head of the Paris Hanugami continued, "we'll remove ten years from your millennium. Furthermore, as long as you are a member, we can guarantee your freedom."

"Fine...so what's the catch?" Lobelia asked, now facing the woman, but still a look of suspicion on her face. "This sounds too good to be true."

"The catch is that those merit-worthy deeds involve putting one's life on the line," Grand Mere replied frankly. "You would have to fight monsters like the ones you faced outside on a regular basis."

Lobelia withdrew a little bit at this, a barely perceptible look of anxiety in her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so truly afraid of something. But the Onis - something about them just disturbed her to the core.

"What?" Ichiro taunted, hoping to coax her further; "Is the master thief Lobelia Carlini that cowardly?" The criminal growled contemptuously at the young naval officer's taunt, and looked ready to lash out again.

"I won't ask you to do this out of the goodness of your heart," Grand Mere said; "You can simply do it for your own sake."

The fire-wielding criminal took a step back to consider this. Then, with a little smile, she looked straight back at the matronly leader of the Paris Hanugami.

"...All right," she said; "I'll play your game."

"Wonderful!" Erica cheered. "Can we let her out now? I'd like to treat her burns..."

"I'm afraid we can't just yet," Sakura said, shaking her head. "We still need to give her some escorts for the journey back to headquarters."

"Then I'll just go inside it myself!" the nun said confidently and she approached the barrier, pushing on it with her right hand. Michiru, Sakura and Ichiro watched with confusion, though the Grand Mere seemed more interested in whether Erica would really pull this off.

"What does she think she's doing?" Michiru said, baffled at Erica's behavior. "There's no way she could..."

Erica began to concentrate, focusing her energy into her hand - and slowly, over the course of about a minute, the nun managed to form a crack in the dome of energy, causing it to flicker and flash...until all at once, it fizzled out, making her stumble a bit.

"She just...shattered the barrier," Sakura said to herself, awe-struck by Erica's astounding feat. Unfortunately, Lobelia took this moment to snag the upper hand. She quickly grabbed the flustered nun, wrapped her in a headlock, wreathed her free hand in fire and positioned it over Erica's chest. Ichiro and Sakura drew their swords, but made no move to attack.

"Mon dieu...what a blunder," Grand Mere sighed, shaking her head in dismay.

"Listen up," Lobelia said wickedly, her eyes darting back and forth between the assembled onlookers; "No funny business, or I'll roast this girl from the inside out - starting with her heart!"

"Lobelia..." Erica suddenly said kindly, a rather unusual manner of speaking considering her situation; "Right now, I'm actually very happy."

"What are you talking about?!" Lobelia exclaimed, startled by Erica's gentle tone.

"As a nun who serves God," Erica answered; "Being able to save the soul of a person teetering on the edge of hell...it is my greatest joy." Sakura and Michiru continued to watch, baffled as anything, though the Grand Mere and Ichiro suddenly sensed what Erica was trying to do.

"I'm threatening to kill you!" Lobelia exclaimed, genuinely beginning to doubt Erica's sanity; "To stab you in the heart and roast you alive!"

"God said that if you are slapped in the right cheek, you should then turn your left one," the nun continued; "If you stab me in my left heart, then I'll turn my right one to you."

"You think I'm an idiot?!" the criminal screeched. "The heart's on the left side, you dumbass!"

_Wow...Lobelia's distracted by Erica's words, _Ichiro thought as he slowly sheathed his weapon. _She's truly amazing..._

"Lobelia - no human being is evil at birth," Erica said gently; "Even you have some goodness in your heart. I can only assume you've gone so far astray because of something terrible that happened to you in the past."

The fire-wielder couldn't understand it - she was irritated to no end with her hostage's preaching, yet she couldn't bring herself to silence her. Was this girl somehow able to peer into her soul? Of course, how could a simple-minded slave of an imaginary god truly comprehend the torment she had been through?

Without thinking, Lobelia released Erica from the headlock.

"I may not be able to heal the sorrows of your soul with my powers," Erica said gently; "But I can heal your physical burns. Please...let me."

She laid her hands on Lobelia's burnt arm and began to concentrate, focusing some energy into the injury. Right before everyone's eyes, her skin began to untwist and meld back together as the energy rapidly accelerated her captor's natural healing. Finally, after a few seconds, the criminal's arm was as good as new.

"There! Feeling better?" the nun asked cheerfully.

"Y-yes," Lobelia replied, stunned at the astonishing kindness she had been shown. Just then, no less than six men in full SWAT gear rushed into the room and surrounded Lobelia and Erica.

"Freeze!" one of the armed men called out.

"Hold your fire!" Michiru ordered, seeing that the fire-wielder wasn't making any attempt to defend herself this time; The soldiers did so, allowing the Grand Mere to approach.

"One last thing, Carlini," the matronly woman said as she extracted a slightly yellowed piece of paper from her robe; "This is a written warrant for your execution. If you should ever pull a stunt like that again, I have it in my power to do whatever is necessary to end your life...even to send every Hanugami in the world on a mission to hunt you down."

"Grand Mere..." Sakura gasped.

Lobelia chuckled, but said nothing. This old woman had thought of everything...and wasn't afraid to play dirty if it came down to it. The girl knew when she was outmatched. Sensing that she had won, the Grand Mere gently put her arm on Lobelia's shoulder.

"Come along now," she said gently; "It's time for you to get acquainted with your new duties."

The two left, followed by the six armed soldiers, who were still ready to spring at any moment. Once they had left, Ichiro turned to Erica.

"Erica, that was incredible!" he exclaimed.

"It was God who healed her burns," the nun replied humbly; "I simply channeled His power."

Sakura, meanwhile, fumed that Ichiro was lavishing the nun with so much attention. If she was going to ultimately prove herself to the captain, she was going to have to step up her game...

* * *

"Eagle's okay!" Ryoma called out. He was all dressed in his pilot suit, a light blue and green outfit with a red and white helmet and grasping the controls of Eagle, the red machine.

"Bear is running properly," Professor Saotome said from within the yellow Bear machine; "How's Jaguar?"

"What the hell are you doing?! Let me go!" Hayato cried as three armed men forced him into the seat of the white machine, Jaguar before closing the hatch on him.

"Hayato - this is your first time in the machine," Saotome said over their audio-visual communication system; "So use the brain-wave helmet on your head to feel the machine!" He then turned his attention to Ryoma.

"Ryoma, all set?" he asked.

"You betcha!" Ryoma answered eagerly as he grabbed hold of a nearby lever. "Get Machines...launch!"

In sequence, Eagle, Jaguar and Bear rocketed through the launch tunnels and out into the open air. Ryoma looked down below to see a number of green, single-eyed mobile suits standing at various points on the mountain. The suits were weapons from the war 25 years ago - green, single-eyed Geara Dogas, the main mobile suit used by Neo Zeon during the 7th Space War. However, due to the cataclysmic effects of the war, technological advancement had all but come to a halt, so it was hardly out of date.

"Your targets for this exercise are those old mobile suits," Saotome explained, his voice strained a little. "They've been programmed with artificial intelligence similar to those of the Onis, so they'll fight you on their own...and to the death!"

"Let me offa this thing!" Hayato cried out. "Why do I have to pilot it?!"

"The old man recognized the two of us as people with potential," Eagle's pilot said with a grin, almost enjoying the sight of Hayato squirming. "Let's just say you got unlucky."

Ryoma then spurred Eagle into a dive, and started firing its gatling guns at the nearest Geara Doga. The machine looked up and countered by firing its beam rifle, forcing him to retreat.

"Remember, Ryoma," Saotome scolded the young man; "You can't act on your own! We can't combine unless we work together!"

Ryoma blinked in surprise at this.

"Combine?!" he exclaimed.

"The individual Get Machines are powerless when separated!" the scientist cried; "Only when together can their true potential be unleashed!"

"Okay then, let's do it!" Eagle's pilot said with a wide, excited grin as he pulled on a different lever than before; "...CHAAAAAAAAAAANGE..!"

Saotome flipped a switch inside Bear, causing it and Jaguar to align. The scientist then gently guided his machine toward Hayato's. They connected with a loud thunk.

"CHAAAAAANGE! GETTEEEEEER...ONE!"

At last, all three machines were connected. The two rear machines began to extend limbs for the body, while Eagle transformed into the combined mech's head. The resulting mech was a red and white horned humanoid with eyes tinted the same green as the windows on Ryoma's machine; it also had bulky legs, a sharp cape and three blades on each of its forearms.

"Now, Ryoma..." Saotome said, panting from the strain of being in such high g-forces; "Let's...review Getter 1's weaponry."

Ryoma nodded, then focused his attention on the Geara Doga he had just attacked.

"GETTER TOMAHAWWWWK!"

Getter Robo extended an axe from its shoulder, which the machine then drew and readied to strike with. It charged at the AI-controlled machine, blocking the beam shots with the tomahawk, then swung with all of its might, chopping its foe clean in two.

"Excellent, Ryoma..." Saotome said with a ecstatic grin, even as blood started to drip out of his nostrils.

"Next up...GETTER BEEEEEEEEEEEEAM!"

Ryoma turned Getter Robo toward another pair of Geara Dogas as it charged up a pink beam. It fired at full blast, incinerating both machines with ease.

"Well...done..." the scientist gurgled as he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Hey, you all right, old man?" Ryoma asked, concerned for Saotome's welfare.

"I'll be fine," the scientist lied as another two Gear Dogas moved in. "Now, Hayato...it's your turn. Ryoma, if you would."

"Sure thing, gramps," Ryoma said as he yanked on the lever. "OPEN GET!"

The three machines split apart just as the two mobile suits fired their beam rifles. This time, the three machines combined with Jaguar in the lead, forming into Getter 2.

Getter 2 was a very different machine from Getter 1. It was white with a small yellow torso and long, thin red legs. Its right arm had a three-clawed hand on the end, while its left arm sported a massive drill with blades on it.

It took a few seconds for Hayato to realize it, but now he was in control. Warily, he placed his hands on the levers and started pushing and pulling them, his intentions being read through the brain-wave helmet. Getter responded without delay, rushed at the two enemy mobile suits and thrust it at them, tearing through them both like a hot knife through butter.

Hayato could barely contain himself as Getter 2's drill ripped the Gear Dogas to shreds. The power he now wielded drove him mad with glee...and in a matter of seconds, he finally lost his composure.

"AAAAAH-HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

With fiendish excitement, Hayato jammed the drill into the shattered mobile suits over and over.

"Well, he's quite the fast learner, it seems," Saotome commented as he caught his breath. However, Ryoma quickly realized that something was going horribly wrong. His fears were confirmed when Hayato turned Getter 2 around and started rushing up the mountain, toward the lab.

"Shoot, he's headed straight for the lab!" Ryoma growled. "Hey, you! Stop this thing now!"

"HEEEE-HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!" Hayaot cackled, his pupils wide with unfettered, insane joy; "This is my power! This is MY POWER!"

"It's useless," Saotome groaned as he felt more blood churning in his stomach; "Getter 2's controls give Jaguar the...highest prioriOUGORPH..."

"Damn it...the old man will be dead at this rate..." Ryoma mumbled as he removed his helmet and opened the cockpit door on Eagle, which had positioned itself in Getter 2's crotch area and finally began climbing the robot. Ironically, the sheer speed of Getter 2 pressed the air against him, allowing his fingers to stick to the otherwise smooth body of the machine.

Finally, he reached the hatch of Jaguar. He grabbed the emergency door handle, and yanked it, creating a cloud of dust and smoke before him.

Hayato looked up, wondering who had just opened the door to his machine. Taking advantage of the psychopath's momentary confusion, Ryoma delivered the hardest punch he could to Hayato's face.

The blow was enough to knock him out cold. Quickly, Ryoma hopped into the cockpit and pulled the emergency shutdown lever, causing Getter 2 and its drill to cease operating. Oddly, the machine actively skidded to a stop rather than simply falling over from the momentum.

Ryoma turned around to see that the machine had stopped less than ten yards from the lab.

"Geez, I have to team up with this guy?" he mused as the sun began to rise.

* * *

"Easy, father," Michiru said as she and Ryoma eased the old man into a chair. It was a miracle he was still alive, let alone conscious. The immense g-forces exerted by Getter took a heavy toll on the scientist's body, and he was bleeding from his mouth, nose and ears, while his left eye was so bloodshot that was entirely red. Sitting in a nearby chair was Doctor Nielstein, who was skimming some battle data from Masakados.

"Good mornink, Saoto..." he said before noticing Saotome's horrific state. "OH, MEIN GOTT! You look like you ran through ze morning traffik!"

"Nielstein...what brings you here?" Saotome chuckled.

"You haven't been vatching ze news, have you? Every station in Tokyo was filming Getter Robo's rampage last night! Don't tell me you vere..."

"I don't think I've ever met a scientist madder than this old coot here," Ryoma quipped. "He willingly decided to let a wanted terrorist pilot it. I had to knock the psycho out cold before he caused too much damage."

"It can't be much crazier than allowing a criminal with enough convictions to lock her away for a millennium join the Hanugami," Ayame Fujieda said as she entered the room with Ichiro and Erica. Almost immediately, Erica saw Saotome's condition and rushed over to him, grave worry in her eyes.

"Professor Saotome...oh, he's terribly hurt!" the girl said as she examined Saotome's ravaged body. "Please, Vice Officer Fujieda...let me try and heal him!"

"Erica, I wouldn't..." Ichiro said, but was suddenly interrupted by a great belly laugh from the bleeding scientist.

"Yes...let's see this so-called 'spiritual healing' that Nielstein here has raved about," he said in a mocking tone; "Use your so-called 'Pneuma' to heal my shattered body..."

Erica swallowed nervously. She had been able to treat minor to moderate injuries before, but Saotome was clearly going to die before the day was out from the damage done to his body...healing this kind of injury might be enough to cause her power to backfire.

The nun got down on her knees and clasped her hands together in prayer. After a few seconds, she placed her hands just over Saotome's chest as her body began to glow a luminous green. A moment later, Saotome's body began to emanate the green light as well, though it was noticeably dimmer. Finally, after a full minute of this, Erica stopped, and began panting heavily. Meanwhile, Ryoma and Michiru watched as Professor Saotome got to his feet, while Nielstein simply smiled contentedly.

"Impressive...I feel much better." the now-healed scientist exclaimed.

"I'm glad to hear that!" Erica chirped.

But Saotome had other things on his mind...things like the possible connection between Pneuma and Getter Rays...

* * *

_Next time, we return to the Freeden and the Iron Gear as they journey to the place where Chirico wants to go. But not before they run into another enemy faction, as well as another new ally...until next time, mecha fans!_


	8. Chapter 7

_Now, let's do some more Gundam X plot, as well as introducing...well, the chapter title says it all._

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Trouble at P-Point! Great Mazinger and the Burning Lake!**

"...You mean to tell me that an elite squadron and a landship were wiped out...by SCRAPPERS?!"

That was the voice that Ennil El heard as she walked down the hallways of a hidden base - she had managed to land an audience with Serge Borough, a military officer from Gilgamesh.

Ennil was a young woman in her late teens with short, dark red hair and eyes like lapis lazuli. Her figure was not unlike Yoko's, though her breasts and butt were only slightly less prominent. She wore a corset-like sleeveless shirt, tight blue pants and high-heeled boots. Even so, Ennil walked with a little sway in her hips - she wasn't afraid to take advantage of her womanly assets.

She stopped and peered through a small window in the door - there at a desk sat a large, fat, middle-aged man, oddly red skin, white hair and wearing the attire of a priest. Ennil, however, knew better - that man was Major Serge Borough himself. She saw another man in uniform standing next to the man at the desk.

"Unfortunately so, sir," the other man said; "Thankfully, they weren't far from Cuvie's location. Examining of further footage revealed the stolen Scopedog being taken onto the landships that destroyed the search team. Look."

Confidently she opened the door and strode inside.

"An _Alps-_class?" the man in robes said skeptically; "When scrappers get a landship like that?"

"You really shouldn't underestimate us scrappers, Serge Borough," Ennil said proudly, startling both men. "What we may lack in skill, we make up in sheer guts and know-how."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, gentlemen," the woman said with a little smile after a few moments; "Am I...interrupting something? I was told this was Serge Borough's office."

"What do you want?" Serge asked, leering contemptuously at the young woman. "If you're trying to..."

"The name's Ennil El...I heard you were looking to hire mercenaries to help you with a certain something," she replied. "And I believe I'm the one for that job. We scrappers are privy to a lot of things that no spy satellite can reveal."

"Oh...really?" the man inquired as he flipped the computer screen around; "Then tell me, little girl - what you make of this footage?" The computer began to play back the footage from the spy satellite. Ennil watched it for a few seconds, and took notice of the three Gundams - the latter of which was just barely visible.

"That's a GX-9900," Ennil answered; "It's an old Federation weapon with a Satellite Cannon...a weapon capable of blowing up a space colony in one shot; those two other mobile suits are a Gundam Airmaster and a Gundam Leopard. If those three Gundam are together at once, it means the _Alps_-class landship here is the _Freeden_...it's been making quite a few waves as of late."

"Oh? And how did you learn about them?" Serge asked, continuing to maintain his suspicion of Ennil's true motives.

"It's all about knowing the right people," the young woman said with a suggestive wink. Serge nodded, satisfied that Ennil had done her research. However, the officer next to Serge frowned, less than impressed.

"That's all very well and good, sir, but can she fight?" the officer said, leering at Ennil. "Does she have sufficient manpower? One mobile suit isn't going to be able to..."

"Of course I do!" the girl retorted confidently; "Would I have had the nerve to march straight into a Gilgamesh military base if I didn't?" She immediately turned back to the man in robes, swung herself up onto the desk and gazed seductively into the man's eyes.

"Tell you what, handsome," Ennil cooed, using her womanly charms to sway Serge; "Hire me, and I'll not only bring you that man, but I'll see if I can't get that GX-9900 for you as a...bonus?"

Something about the girl made her offer even more appealing to the old soldier. He grinned.

"Very well...I'll give you the job," he answered, rising from his chair; "And to help you, I'll be providing you with some manpower of my own."

He turned to the officer that had first shown him the footage.

"Fetch Proto-One immediately!" he ordered. The officer hesitated, causing the robed man to fume with anger.

"Did I stutter?" Serge bellowed, his face turning even redder; "Fetch her now or I'll strip you of your rank!"

"Y-y-yes, sir," the cowed officer replied with a stammer, saluting nervously before leaving with all due haste. With that, Serge sat back down again, leaned back in his chair and started drumming his fingertips together.

"Now...for the details of the mission..."

* * *

In a great chamber deep within the heart of an underwater island, an enormous being made of flames hovered just above a ruined dais. He looked down and saw a somewhat smaller (but still gigantic) humanoid being below - it had a helmet with thick, spiraled horns, sturdy dark blue armor and a great sword hanging at its hip. Finally, the face of a blue-skinned, bearded man was sticking out of its belly. It was carrying a damaged yellow and red machine that resembled a giant pair of wings.

"Ankoku Daishogun, my most trusted general!" the flaming entity called out to the armored warrior below, with a voice that crackled like a raging inferno; "Have you found that which I sent you to retrieve?"

"We have indeed, Emperor of Darkness!" Ankoku Daishogun replied proudly, raising the object up so his liege could get a better view. "Behold,The God Scrander - or rather, Zeus' arm - is now in your possession!"

"Wonderful!" the flaming being replied; "Now that troublesome Mazinger Z will surely pose no threat to my Mycenae Empire!"

"Against me, he was barely a challenge," Ankoku Daishogun said with a grin as he laid the broken wings on the ground.

"Nevertheless, I shall keep it as a trophy!" the Emperor of Darkness said decisively. "Have the Talos lock it away in the deepest section of our vault beneath the soil."

"At once!" his servant replied with a bow before drawing his sword and striking its tip on the ground with enough force to make the blade's vibration resonate through the entire complex. After a few seconds, a trio of large bronze statues that were only about three-quarters the height of Daishogun tromped into the chamber.

"Talos!" the general roared, pointing to the broken God Scrander. "Your supreme ruler has spoken...now, obey!" Without a word, the three Talos picked up the shattered wings and carried it off into a nearby passage.

After a moment of savoring the victory, the great flaming entity decided to move to another matter.

"Now that Zeus' arm is in our grasp, we can begin our campaign to crush the human race once and for all, and reclaim this planet as our own."

"Why not start with the islands of Japan?" Ankoku Daishogun suggested; "We can make Koji Kabuto watch as the land of his birth is burned to ashes...it will make our victory all the sweeter!" The flaming entity grinned wickedly and began to laugh with such gusto that the chamber shook a little.

"That is why you are my right hand, Ankoku Daishogun!" the Emperor lauded; "As much as it appeals to me, we must deal with the greatest threats first. Prepare a division of Talos and Battle Beasts to lay siege to the lands of the so-called Innocent!"

Daishogun nodded, bowed again and started out the way he came.

"One more thing, Daishogun," the flaming being said, causing the general to pause and turn back to him; "If that other one should appear, swat him out of the sky like the gadfly he is."

* * *

_"All right, everyone. You're free to do whatever, but stay within the town. Once we've made our delivery and restocked, we're heading out. We don't want to wait up for any stragglers, you hear?"_

Those were Elche's orders regarding the two landships' current stop - it just so happened that the newest job that Carrying Cargo had for them was to start here - and to end in an undisclosed location not far from their destination.

For Simon, Kamina, Yoko and Leeron, this was their first-ever visit to an above-ground human settlement (Littner had been below ground, so that didn't count). They walked around with looks of wonder on their faces, marveling at even the simplest of buildings. Their wanderings took them down an alleyway, where they were approached by a few unsavory-looking Breakers.

"Hey, pardner," their leader, a burly fellow with an eye-patch said as he lustfully eyed Yoko with his good one; "Nice goods ya got there."

"Excuse me?" Yoko said, baffled at who these men were. However, all she needed was to look at their faces to figure out what they were after.

"How much ya want fer a little time with her?" the Breaker asked, turning to Kamina. "She's a right purdy young thing...you're one lucky man, son."

"What do you want with Yoko?" Kamina asked, equally confused as to what the men were asking of him.

"Ya daft, boy?" the burly fellow exclaimed, looking at Kamina's cape and sunglasses; "The way yer dressed, you GOTTA be the one sellin' her!" Simon suddenly got a bad sense of just what these men wanted.

"Kamina, you don't think they're..." he began. Kamina, meanwhile, leered at them angrily, having suddenly come to a similar conclusion on his own.

"I don't like the way you're looking at my lady Yoko here," he said as he reached for his sword and started to pull it out; "I oughta wipe those pervy looks right of your faces!" In response, the leader put his fingers to his lips and whistled long and loud. About a dozen more thugs appeared from all around them - from windows, trapdoors, and from the rooftop.

"Big bro," Simon chimed in nervously as more Breakers quickly surrounded them, apparently intent on taking the red-head by force; "I don't think that's such a..." But suddenly, two of the Breakers fell face flat to the ground, having been struck from behind. Simon looked over and saw a man in an oddly-shaped red and white helmet and a red piloting suit with a popped up collar standing where the two had just been.

"You lot..." the man said stoically, pointing a broadsword that glinted in the sun at the thugs; "Clear out now."

The Breakers growled, annoyed by the appearance of this interloper, turned their attention to him and began to charge in groups. But the man was far faster than they - as each group tried to lay hand on the helmeted man, he sent them flying with a swing of his sword., much to the marvel of the three Undergrounders.

But to their further amazement, all of the Breakers got to their feet, seemingly unharmed. Before they could attack again, their clothing, weapons and gear fell to pieces all at once, leaving them only in their underpants, assuming they had any. Blushing beet red with humiliation, the thugs all turned tail and ran, yelling curses as they fled.

"Hey, thanks! That was awesome!" Simon cheered as the helmeted man sheathed his sword. Yoko smiled, having been equally impressed.

"Yeah, I guess it was," Kamina huffed, annoyed that his little bro's attention was no longer on him as he approached the helmeted man. "What's your name anyway, helmet-head?"

"...Blade," the man replied after a second, again with very little change in tone. He almost seemed like Chirico. Without another word, Blade turned around, going back in the direction he came. But when Simon tried to chase after him, he found that their savior seemed to have disappeared into thin air after exiting the alley...

* * *

As much as Garrod wanted to take Tiffa out on the town during the two ships' layover, he figured that Jamil would have none of that, so he decided to go out by himself. He sauntered into a small bar and plopped himself onto a bar stool.

He didn't notice Ennil El following him inside, even after she took the seat next to him. She had spotted him leaving the _Freeden_, and somehow figured that he was the Gundam X's pilot.

"Hey, handsome," the woman said, catching Garrod's attention. The young man turned around, and blushed heavily when he realized that a pretty girl was talking to him.

"Oh...uh, hi," he said hesitantly, not used to be approached like this.

"What's a little guy like you doing in a place like this, especially all alone? " Ennil asked, glancing over at the other tables. Indeed, there were a number of scrapper and Breaker couples here, enjoying each others' company.

"Oh, nothing much," Garrod said awkwardly, trying his level best to keep his gaze away from Ennil's substantial bosom; "Just wandering around, taking up odd jobs. I don't mind being alone."

Ennil, however, knew she had the boy. She had yet to run into a man who hadn't fallen for her...and she wasn't the only woman in this world who used her feminine charms to survive and prosper.

"Listen," the young woman began; "Word has it that some kid got his hands on a spiffy Gundam, and I'm gonna wager that it's you. Think you'd be willing to part with it? I'll make it worth your while."

Garrod couldn't help but be astonished - the information brokers really were at the top of their game if they were able to determine that he was its pilot. However, he also remembered that he had made a promise to use the Gundam X to protect Tiffa and help Jamil save other Newtypes.

"Sorry, but it ain't for sale," he answered.

"How does three hundred million credits sound?" Ennil then asked; "Will that change your mind, handsome?"

Garrod swallowed nervously. Three hundred million credits was more than enough to live comfortably off of for the rest of his life. Yet again, he remembered his promise to Jamil and Tiffa.

"...That's a generous offer," the young man said, regaining his composure. "But it's still not for sale."

Ennil couldn't help but be actually attracted to this kid - not only was he good-looking, but he was proving to be an actual challenge - he was like her, almost. Her heart skipped a beat as she made what she assumed would be her final offer...

"How about I throw in a little something _extra_ on top?" Ennil then proposed as she slid her hand along Garrod's thigh, sending shivers up the young man's spine.

"Um...uh...well..."

Something in Garrod told him that this was leading straight for trouble, and he needed to clear out now before he did something he would regret. But it still took all of the young man's willpower to stand up.

"For the last time, I'm NOT gonna sell the Gundam!" the Gundam X's pilot cried out, causing everyone to turn towards them, wondering what the disturbance was about. With that, Garrod turned and left, fuming with contempt at anyone trying to weasel the Gundam out of him.

Ennil was even angrier, though. The burning attraction she had suddenly felt towards Garrod began to twist itself inside out, becoming a seething hatred.

_Who does that boy think he is?! _she thought;_ Now he's made this personal...no one gets away with rejecting Ennil El...NO ONE! _

* * *

Jaan decided to go into town by himself to see what supplies he could scrounge up for maintaining the Masakados and the other machines. But as he passed by an open window, he couldn't help but overhear a conversation between two men.

"Hmmm...if what yer sayin' is true," said one of the two men, an old but tough-looking man with white hair; "Then that makes fer a fine kettle o' fish, I'd say."

"You're free to believe or not, Vickman," said the other, a man in a black cowboy outfit and hat; "But you know what's really buggin' me? That Iron Gear's paired up with some new landship that I've plumb never seen til' now." Upon hearing the name of Elche's landship, Jaan doubled back, ducked beneath the windowsill, and listened carefully to the conversation of the two men while hoping he wouldn't be noticed.

"Can't very well ignore 'em if they're gonna interfere with my business," Vickman replied, taking a swig of alcohol; "But if they're here, then we're way too close to the domes to do that."

"We've got an excuse," the man in the black hat replied; "They've got a fool who ignores the three-day-law runnin' with 'em. So, a little punishment's in order."

"Heh-heh," Vickman chuckled; "I hear ya, Timp, ma boy. Anyone who'd ignore THAT rule is just ask'n for it!"

_Timp, _Jaan thought; _That's the man who killed Jiron's parents..._

"Just to warn ya," Timp cautioned the crusty old Breaker; "They've got some fancy Walker Machines on their side, not to mention a pair of Ganmen. This lot is way too hot for regular Breakers to handle, I'd say."

"Who do y'all think yer talk'n to?" Vickman boasted; "I've got mah Dela...Delavas...Delavasgalan on my side! Criminy, what's with the Innocent and their fancy-pants names fer things?"

"All right, your point's made, Vickman," Timp groaned. Jaan, feeling that he had heard enough, quietly began to sneak away, planning to report this to Elche and Jamil as soon as he returned. Vickman and Timp continued their conversation, though the gunslinger couldn't help but get the sense that someone had been eavesdropping just now...

* * *

Among the ATs gathered inside the scrapper landship was a special, dark red Scopedog - the Brutishdog. In addition to a far more intricate control system, its right arm had been outfitted with a combination weapon - a mounted heavy gatling cannon and and iron claw hand. The hydraulic system had to be removed from the right arm to accommodate the new armament, but the left arm could still use the hydraulic punch.

Sitting inside the Brutishdog was a woman with long, straight brown hair, plump red lips and piercing brown eyes - the only one capable of piloting it: Proto-One. Meanwhile, Ennil was in the cockpit of a custom blue Jenice. Manning the helm of a _Trieste_-class landship was a rough-looking man with black hair and five o'clock shadow.

"Is everything ready, Zakott?" Ennil's voice came over his landship's radio.

"All set, Miss," the man replied. "Still can't believe you got us working with Gilgamesh Federation troops! This Chirico guy's that much of a deal, huh?"

But Ennil's mind wasn't on Chirico - she just wanted to make Garrod pay for rejecting her so callously. The matter of the rogue AT pilot would be left to Proto-One.

"Okay, Proto-One," she said to the female soldier; "Let's go over the plan one more time."

"The main forces will drive the _Freeden _and Iron Gearinto the mountains by burning the forest surrounding the Innocents' dome," Proto-One recited. "Once there, Zakott will trap them in the reservoir and destroy them with the special rounds our contact in P-Point provided. Meanwhile, the AT assault squad and I will separate Chirico Cuvie from the rest of them, disable his AT and capture him."

"Wait a sec, Ennil!" Zakott exclaimed when he realized that his partner didn't take the Gundam X into account; "Don't you wanna get that GX-9900?"

"...I never promised the client that I would," the female scrapper replied coldly. "I merely said I would try. If it gets blown to bits, then too bad for them."

"You seem troubled, Miss," Proto-One suddenly said with a surprising amount of concern in her voice.

"What? When did you become a shrink all of a sudden?" Ennil exclaimed, annoyed at being questioned so; "Just do as you're told."

In truth, Proto-One was only attempting to address Ennil El's issues to keep her mind off her own misgivings about this mission.

Try as she might, she could never bring herself to harm that man, Chirico Cuvie. The last time she had seen him, they had worked together to escape the now-wrecked city of Woodo. What was more, he had given her a proper name - Fyana.

The very thought of being his enemy again sent a sharp twinge of pain through the woman's body...

* * *

The _Freeden _and Iron Gear rested beside a domed city perhaps five percent of the size of Tokyo - P-Point, one of several domes that were home to the Innocent. Jamil and the others were asked to remain outside while Elche dealt with the people inside.

"You must be Elche Cargo," said a stern but handsome young man with black hair wearing a brown uniform with a beret; "I trust you have it?" Standing next to him was a homelier fellow with a bulbous, freckled nose, a brown afro and a green uniform. They were both members of the local Innocent government.

"Yes...pass number M73-106," Elche answered politely, presenting a laminated slip of paper. "I'm the proxy holder of Kyaring Cargo's pass." The first man took the pass, gave it a quick once-over, and returned it to Elche.

"I'm in charge of this payment point - Biel, Director first-class," he said before gesturing to the man next to him; "...And this is my adjutant, Dowas." The bulbous-nosed man gave a polite nod of acknowledgment, though he seemed to have an air of disdain for Elche.

"We understand you're here for that delivery job?" Biel then asked.

"Yes, sir," Elche replied dutifully.

"Good," Biel said with a nod. "We'll allow the Iron Gear into the landship dock so the cargo can be loaded."

Biel gave some sort of hand signals to several Innocent workers, which then opened up a set of giant metal doors, allowing Cotset to drive the landship into the dock. The workers guided him to the loading area, where several large blue crates sat waiting. Meanwhile, Dowas started down several flights of metal stairs so he could supervise the loading process.

"Remember...these are very fragile... SO DON'T DROP 'EM!"

After a few moments of silence, Biel turned to Elche.

"By the way," the man asked genially; "There's been rumor among your fellow Civilians that you've been traveling with a second landship from beyond this region. These people supposedly have unusual Walker Machines, and there have even been stories of humans piloting Ganmen. Is this true?"

"Yes," the young woman replied, blushing a bit. "Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Oh, nothing wrong about that at all," Biel answered amicably. "I'd actually like to meet the pilots myself, and have a look at their machines as well."

But before Elche could answer, the sounds of several explosions came from outside, followed by the crackling of flames and the smell of burning wood.

"Director!" Dowas called up. "There are Gilgamesh Armored Troopers and scrapper mobile suits outside! They've set fire to the southern part of the forest!"

"No! They would dare do such a thing?!" the Director exclaimed in shock and dismay. "Isn't there a truce between us and Gilgamesh?!"

But Elche suddenly realized that this was her chance. If she could win over Biel, who knew what she could accomplish?

"Director Biel, leave them to us!" Elche declared heroically; "I'll scramble my forces at once!" In the ensuing hubbub to get the Iron Gear going, no one realized that Dowas was more annoyed than worried.

_What is Borough thinking?! _he thought;_ I didn't provide that man with those special artillery shells just to have them burn our forest down!_

* * *

As the sky turned blood red from the setting sun, the fight was on - a small army of mobile suits and ATs, several of them armed with oversized flamethrowers moved in to meet the _Freeden_ and Iron Gear's forces. Both Xabungles, the Gallops, Gurren, Lagann, Masakados and Chirico's newly-repaired Scopedog all prepared for combat. Yoko was riding shotgun with Birume. Meanwhile, the dome used numerous fire-extinguishing cannons to work on putting out the surrounding flames.

"Where's the heck is Garrod?!" Tara said angrily.

"He's still getting ready," Jamil replied from within the _Freeden_; "He had just returned from town when they showed up."

"Bring it, ya goons! Team Gurren never backs down from a fight!" Kamina called out as he rushed to meet the enemy. He was immediately greeted by a barrage of machine cannon fire from a number of Jenices and Daughtresses, which he proceeded to leap over before assailing with his Ganmen's fists.

"Careful in there, big bro!" Simon called out as he hurried to Kamina's aid in spite of the danger of being swarmed. He had to carefully maneuver Lagann around the mobile suits lest he be squashed.

Meanwhile, Tara found herself exchanging blows with a pair of Daughtresses. Like before, she continued to avoid killing them, opting instead to disable them by destroying their arms, legs or heads. In this case, she used Kouzuke to stab through their heads and then cut off their ankles.

However, this tactic proved to be problematic when fighting the much smaller ATs - as she was accosted by a pair of Scopedogs, she used her machine's lightest blade, Hitachi, to try and remove the nearest one's legs. But the Masakados swung too high, causing her to instead slice both machines clean in half.

"Damn it..." she groaned as she felt her stomach turn at the thought of having killed again. But her concentration was broken when a hail of bullets struck her machine on the leg, dealing only minor damage thanks to its powerful skeleton. She turned and saw Fyana's Brutishdog zipping about, peppering the Gallops with bullets from its gatling cannon - several such bullets narrowly missed Yoko and before she could move in to help, Chirico's Scopedog zipped by her and prepared to engage the Brutishdog.

"Watch out, Chirico!" Birume called out over his radio. "That red AT's gotta be three times faster than the others!" But Chirico recognized the machine's especially ruthless and efficient combat style - it was one he had gone up against and fought alongside.

_It's her, _he thought; _It's..._

He quickly switched his radio frequency to that of the Brutishdog before calling out the name he had given her...

"...FYANA!"

Proto-One gasped when she heard Chirico call out to her over her machine's communication frequency. But then she remembered the plan - she had to separate the man from his new allies. The woman broke combat with the green Walker Machines and started off in another direction.

Normally, Chirico would know better than to pursue in this case - she was clearly trying to separate him from the others. Yet something compelled him to follow.

"I'll bail him out!" Jiron said as he started after the ATs.

"No, Jiron!" Elche cried, causing Xabungle to trip. "Stay with us! We have to get them further away from the dome before these cretins cause any more damage!"

Meanwhile, the mobile suits continued to press their attack, and the blaze began to spread faster as their flamethrowers ignited more and more trees.

"The fire's really running out of control!" Rag exclaimed as Xabungle 2 retreated toward the Iron Gear while firing her Walker Machine's rifle.

"There's a lake in the 3 o'clock direction!" Jamil called out after glancing at the radar. "We'll head there!" With that, the two landships started moving towards the lake, not realizing that it was exactly what the enemy wanted them to do...

* * *

Chirico chased Proto-One for only a few minutes, but they managed to get several miles from the battle site, where the foliage was yet to suffer from the nearby inferno. While he remained wary of any allies of hers nearby, the fugitive soldier continued to dog her with questions in an only slightly raised voice.

"Fyana, what are you doing here? Why are you still helping these men?"

Yet even though he remained rather stoic, the woman felt awful for having to trick him like this. Suddenly, she stopped and turned to face the man she couldn't bring herself to harm.

"Chirico...I..."

As if that had been some sort of signal, five Scopedogs, each with one of its shoulder painted red, started to open fire from within the surrounding woods. Several rounds managed to strike the ace's Scopedog, but he was fast enough to punch his machine into full reverse as he fired back.

_Red Shoulders?! _he thought; _I thought us four were the only ones left..._

But suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a great bellow filled the air:

"THUNDER BREEEEEEEEAK!"

A great thunderbolt crashed down from above, blasting the remaining Scopedogs to bits. Proto-One, who had been in pursuit as well, suddenly stopped and gazed up at what had created the bolt - a massive flying robot.

Something in her said that her AT was no match for this newcomer. Without another word, she fled off into the woods. After a few seconds of pause, the giant flying robot turned towards the east. Chirico quickly followed, wondering who this stranger was...

* * *

"Just a little further!" Jamil called out.

"Garrod, what's the hold-up?!" Jiron said in an extremely annoyed manner as he fired on a pair of pursuing Jenices from his position on the Iron Gear's lower body. Suddenly, one of the enemies seemed to get a lock on Xabungle and took aim.

"Gimme a sec, geez!" Garrod replied as his machine flew out of the _Freeden_ and fired a few beam shots, destroying the two enemy mobile suits.

"Took ya long enough!" Chiru squawked.

"Geez, a word of thanks would have been nice," the Gundam X's pilot grumbled as he landed atop the _Freeden, _providing cover fire for his allies.

"Stay on your toes, everyone," Elche warned; "We don't know what's coming next."

"But...we'll be safe on the water, right?" Simon asked nervously, turning to Kamina for reassurance as the two ships whizzed onto the water's surface - the _Freeden_'s built-in hover engines allowed it to skim the surface of the water. The Iron Gear seemed to have similar capabilities - it allowed the landship to move over almost any terrain.

"Of course we will!" his big bro said with a laugh. "It's not like you can set water on fire, right?"

"Incoming artillery rounds from the north!" Toniya cried. Indeed, several glowing shells soared through the air. But to everyone's surprise, all of the projectiles were completely off target, only creating large splashes as they landed in the water, covering the sides of the ships in a layer of water droplets.

"Man, they're terrible shots!" Kamina laughed. But before he could begin the counterattack, numerous green blobs formed from the droplets - in a matter of moments, the lake suddenly burst into flame, as did the droplets on the ships. It was only then that Elche remembered something.

"Oh no...this isn't an ordinary lake!" she cried out.

"What?!" Jamil exclaimed. "What do you mean?!"

"It's actually a reservoir for cleaning the Innocent's used water," the green-haired girl replied; "The chemicals used to treat it are highly flammable!"

"Gya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" the voice of Zakott came from across the reservoir. The group looked out to see the man standing atop his vessel. "Welcome to P-Point's Burning Lake, fools! This is where we put an end to you!" With that, he jumped back into the ship and to his captain's chair.

"Commence the attack!" he ordered. The ship fired more of the incendiary rounds, which increased the size and strength of the flames while mobile suits surrounded the reservoir and opened fire. But the inferno burning was rivaled by the blazing resolve in Garrod's heart. The Gundam X leaped into the air and began flying towards the enemy vessel.

"Garrod, get back here!" Tara yelled.

"I'm gonna take that thing out!" the Gundam's pilot replied as he took aim with his beam rifle. But suddenly, a blue Jenice burst out from the woods, beam saber drawn. Garrod just barely had enough time to block the attack with the Gundam X's shield. But it still forced him back to the shoreline.

"Well, well, fancy meeting you again," the pilot of the blue Jenice said as the machine slashed at the Gundam again. Garrod immediately recognized the voice.

"Ennil El! You're that woman from before!" he exclaimed. When he tried to counterattack, Ennil rammed him, knocking him down. She then began to bear down on Garrod, the energy from the beam saber slowly melting through the Gundam X's shield.

"Listen, kid...I really like you, so I'm willing to let bygones be bygones," the woman said, still maintaining a seductive tone in her voice in spite of being in combat. "If you hand over that Gundam, your friends can keep their lives. I might even let you join up with me."

"Damn it..." Garrod grunted as he struggled and strained against Ennil's Jenice; "I can't...I won't..."

Suddenly, and for the second time that day, a booming voice pierced the twilight.

**"BREASTO BUUUUUUUUUUUURN!"**

A massive red blast of intense heat tore through the air toward the lake. After only a few seconds of contact, the lake began to boil and froth like a soup pot on a stove - but more importantly, the flames quickly began to die down as their fuel source evaporated.

The group looked up to see just what had saved them - a silvery robot with black forearms and lower legs, a pointed, two-pronged crown, a grille over its mouth, and a red, winged rocket pack on its back. Just below it stood Chirico's Scopedog, none the worse for wear.

"Hear me, humans with the hearts of demons!" the larger robot's pilot boomed, the machine's finger pointing at Zakott's landship; "Begone from here!"

"Who the hell are you?" Zakott exclaimed.

"You have no right to know my real name," the pilot answered defiantly as the machine ejected a sword from its left knee. "But know this - this machine, Great Mazinger, shall be your end this day!"

"Wait a sec...could he be the guy from in town today?!" Simon exclaimed. "He sounds just like him...only a lot more...um..."

"Hot-blooded?" Yoko suggested. "Yeah, that's the word." Meanwhile, Ennil's forces, annoyed by the presence of this arrogant newcomer, turned their bullets and shells on him. The giant robot landed, providing cover for Chirico's Scopedog, who stood neatly between its legs. As a result, the bullets bounced off its incredibly strong armor, barely even leaving a scratch.

While the mobile suits stubbornly maintained their assault on Great Mazinger, the surviving AT pilots seemed to get the hint - without warning, they suddenly began to fall back.

But Ennil wasn't a fool like the other scrappers - she could tell that this flying behemoth was more than her men could handle...she had to clear out before Great Mazinger could destroy her. However, her moment of distraction made her forget the opponent she had right in front of her.

With renewed hope, Garrod managed to push the blue custom Jenice off of the Gundam, then quickly draw its beam saber and slice a chunk of its shoulder off.

"Don't make me laugh!" Garrod taunted; "I'd never join you! My home is the _Freeden_, and that's where it's gonna stay!"

Ennil fumed and seethed at being rejected yet again, but knew that it was time to go. Without another word, she began to follow the retreating Scopedogs, dodging the Gundam X's parting shots. But when she momentarily looked back, she saw Great Mazinger charge up a massive burst of lightning and launch it straight at Zakott's landship.

"A fool, that man," she mused as she watched the landship explode before continuing her retreat.

* * *

Back at the Gilgamesh base, Serge Borough paced back and forth as Ennil El and Proto-One stood before him. The robed man had a look of grave disapproval on his face. Finally, he paused and leered at the Brutishdog's pilot.

"Proto One, you disappoint me," he said grimly. "You've failed me yet again."

"F-forgive me, sir," the woman replied nervously. "Every time I get near him, I..."

"Your emotions are clearly still getting in the way of your combat ability," the man continued; "Even when I gave you permission to merely capture Chirico, you couldn't do that much, I have no choice - I'm sending you over to Fort Severn. It seems Pailsen has to be the one to iron your kinks out."

_Iron her kinks out? _Ennil wondered. _Does that mean she's not a regular human?_ Serge then turned to the scrapper he had hired.

"Ennil El, you're to accompany Proto-One and see to it she arrives safely at Fort Severn."

"What? No 'you've failed me' speech?" the young woman quipped.

"The fault for the mission's failure does not lie with you," the Gilgamesh officer replied. "Therefore, I'm willing to give you another chance."

"You're too kind, sir," the scrapper said with a little smile.

* * *

_I hope you guys liked this one. Next time, some Xabungle plot and more fun with demons! Until then, stay tuned, mecha fans!_


End file.
